Rehab
by LegalWrights
Summary: After the battle of beacon, Yang attempts to recover from the horrific maiming by Adam Taurus. Blake assists her in her recovery while moving along with her own.
1. Atlas

Atlas? Really? My eyes fluttered open for the first time in weeks. I wasn't sure what was going on, and the room was dark. I looked around, able to adjust a bit. Thank god it was about 2 am, or else I'd be staring at absolutely blinding light. No one wants that when they wake up. I thought I heard movement off to my left, but that was about it. And even then…I was just so exhausted that I passed right back out. Hell of a way to start off, eh?

When I woke up the next morning, I couldn't see shit. Yep, there's the blinding light I was expecting. All I saw was a hazy black outline and those beautiful piercing yellow eyes over me. "Yang? Can you hear me?" I couldn't manage to speak, and instead nodded to the sound of her voice. I desperately needed a drink. Water, at least. God I hate water. Milk would be good, in an ideal world a strawberry sunrise, but obviously the world wasn't ideal anymore.

Blake sighed and nodded. "Good…I'm glad." My eyes began to adjust; I saw the bandages covering Blake's torso. Evidently from the stab wound I had heard. That's when the memories began to come back to me. That heart wrenching scream, the sound of steel meeting flesh. I never got to see the wound that Adam had inflicted on Blake, I just assumed the worst. The most terrifying part was that it was Blake. It could have been Weiss, maybe even Ruby, and I wouldn't have been as enraged as she was. Maybe for Ruby, she is my little sister after all, someone I was out to protect but…Blake was different.

Blake snapped me back to reality, noticing what must have been distance in my eyes. "Listen, Yang, you need to know something okay? I'm here for you, but I need you to check your arm, Okay?" My eyes widened and I slowly shifted my gaze. Cold, lifeless steel met it. I screamed, trying to rip myself out of bed and yank this…this… **thing** off of me! I couldn't bear the sight; I couldn't bear the **pain**. "Get it off! Please! Blake, help me!"

Blake was trying not to cry, holding down her teammate and partner. She was screaming for someone to help, but I could barely hear her. The shock had to be affecting me. Then some doctors rushed in and I found myself out cold again. This time though, I dreamed.

I dreamed of what would have happened if I hadn't made it in time. I watched Adam stand over Blake, I watched him…do things to her. Chanting over and over that he loved her, that she was his darling. It was disgusting. When I charged forward to attack him, I saw that my arm was gone. I was so enraged though…I'd just attack with the other! When I lunged forward, that was gone too. I went for a kick and fell out from under a now dismembered leg. I was nothing but a torso, and still looked on in horror, screaming for him to back away from her. Then those words that rang through my mind. "I'll destroy everything you love…starting with her."

As Adam raised his sword, I sat up screaming. Blake jumped from her spot on the visitor's chair, prepared to help me if I needed it. But no, I was just gasping for air, trying to clutch my forehead, but I ended up smacking myself in the face with the metallic arm instead. Too much force, I suppose. This gave me the first chance to look at my arm though. Silver as Ruby's eyes, but without so much of an ounce of the life that danced in them. No joy, no sadness, no nothing. Just a soulless machine.

Blake sat next to me, holding the hand that was still there. I shuddered and looked down at the other, refusing to meet Blake's gaze. "I couldn't save you." I finally said in a defeated tone. It was a tone that didn't suit me. It didn't belong in my voice. "I'm a miserable failure, and I couldn't save you." I wasn't expecting what came next as Blake grabbed my chin, forcing me to meet her gaze. Blake wasn't usually so assertive about this.

"Please shut up." I blinked in confusion at the contrast in Blake's tone and expression. "You didn't let me down Yang, you're the reason I'm here." She pulled me forward and embraced me, drawing a deep blush.

"But…I didn't save you! I just jumped in and he-" Blake cut me off before I could say it. Heh…puns. "Yang, do you realize how many White Fang members you took out trying to save me? You're the reason we were able to escape that psychopath, otherwise I never would have been able to run with you like I did." I sighed and looked back down at my new arm. I tried to grip the sheets and failed miserably at it. This was going to suck, but…maybe it was time for one of my famous jokes? Just to show Blake that I was okay? "Well I guess that makes me pretty awesome, right?" I asked hopefully. Wow, smooth move Xiao Long. It's almost like you haven't been in a coma for who knows how long. Oh shit, right, I was.

Blake faked a smile though. "Super cool." She said, clinging to me tightly. I thought I heard purring, but…Blake doesn't purr, right? Part of me kind of hoped that she did, or else this could be super racist. "So…he…didn't hurt you right?" I asked, terrified that my dream had actually occurred. She looked me in the eyes and shook her head. "No…just a stab wound but it's mostly healed up already. You…got the worse of it."

I looked down again, sighing. "You weren't even involved…he's my crazy ex, and yet you're the one he hurt." A horrific image shot through my mind, the last thing I'd seen before I passed out. Adam lopping off Blake's head like she meant nothing, but she was right here. Must be her semblance…Blake was always crafty like that.

I rolled my eyes and put a hand on Blake's cheek. "True, but I'm the one who jumped in like an idiot with my arm out like that. I think I got off easy." As terrifying as the thought was, I was just being honest. Then I jumped. Someone was in the doorway, clearing his throat. "Ms. Belladonna, Ms. Xiao Long." I looked up and saw just about the last person I'd expected. General James Ironwood.


	2. A Friendly Wager

I blinked and almost went to rub my eyes, just to make sure Ironwood was actually there. Then I remembered the facepalming accident. I was not doing that again, so I'd just trust my eyes for now. I wasn't sure if I should expect a scolding, a medal of honor, a list of all my friends who had died. Sure, pile on that Pyrrha and Nora were dead. Jaune and Ren too. Coco? Fun stuff. Oh, maybe Velvet too. Instead, he smiled. I'd…never seen Ironwood smile before that day.

"I'll give you two a bit." Blake said with a smile, but I held her hand as best I could in my weakened state. I didn't want her to leave me with him. Honestly it'd just piss me off. Ironwood must have known that much, maybe he wasn't all bad. "No Ms. Belladonna. That's not necessary. As her teammate you are just as involved in her recovery as she is, and more so than I. You should stay." I gave her one of my flirty looks and smiled. "Yeah, you're stuck with me kitty cat." That got a blush out of her. Yang Xiao Long is back, baby.

Ironwood chuckled, and noted the arm. "A rather elegant design, if I do say so myself." He laughed a bit louder, and I looked where he was pointing. Was that…the Ember Celica? Blake noticed my expression and smiled, giving me a quick hug. "I picked up your uh…your arm before we left. Just in case. We built your weapon into your new arm."

I smiled just a bit. It was a nice gesture, and something I never would have thought of if Blake were in the position I'd been in. Reattaching the arm? I would have just dragged Blake by the head screaming "OH SHIT" the entire way. Funny how differently the two of us work. And yet…it was comforting to see just a small piece of metal I was accustomed to on the otherwise foreign object. I tried to activate the gauntlet the same way I'd been used to, with my aura. That was how I usually triggered it, but nothing happened.

My brow furrowed and my frustration was evident as I closed my eyes. I tried my damnedest to do this, just like back when Dad and Qrow taught me in Signal. Then I heard a click and the familiar morphing sound. I opened my eyes and there it was. Nice. And apparently I wasn't the only one who had noticed, because I heard Ironwood whistle. Holy shit I'd totally forgotten he was there.

"Not bad, Yang." He said with a smile. "Took me months to learn to channel my aura like that. Even longer to figure out how much force to put into things." I blinked and looked at him, completely confused. "Do you mind if I call you Yang?" He looked worried that he may have actually offended me. Me, the most informal person this side of Remnant. "Uhm...no, that's fine." Ironwood almost looked relieved. "Good, when I was in your position about 6 years ago, I just wanted to remind people that I had a name, you know?"

I didn't know until just a second later when he rolled up his sleeve. "Care for a little wager?" I'd never seen him with such a bright look on his face, with such a bright outlook on the world. "Let's arm wrestle to see who gets to decide on the paint job." His smile was so genuine; it was as if he didn't even notice the cybernetic implant. Then I realized he wasn't looking at an injured student. He was looking at the one person in the world he fully understood. The one person in the world who was in the same exact boat. I grabbed his hand with the new arm and gave him my hot headed smile as my eyes turned red. "You are so on, but if I win I'm painting yours pink."

He chuckled and we started. "I don't think I'll take that one, but nice effort." The two of us went for a good hour or so, Blake sitting next to me and cheering me on for the first 20 minutes, then she settled for laying her torso on my legs and watching. It was a bizarre feeling; my arm wasn't getting tired like it normally would. I felt like I could take on the world, especially Adam Taurus. That set me over the edge though, Adam Taurus. I slammed Ironwood's arm straight through the table with a scream of pain. Those phantom pains were back, and I clutched that new arm so tight.

Blake jumped at the sudden change, and Ironwood nodded. He had expected this. "Yang, I don't think this is something you can just power through. Your teammates are here for you, and if all else fails I'm here for you. Okay?" I nodded slowly, not sure what to think. He nodded to Blake and started toward the door. "I'll be back in tomorrow to check on you, okay?" He didn't wait for an answer and walked out, no doubt to deal with the Vale issue. Oh shit! Beacon!

I turned to Blake, eyes wide with fear. "What happened to Beacon?" Blake looking up at mine with her soft yellow eyes. She looked like a cowering kitten, and I realized I was losing control of my semblance again. I blinked my eyes back to their violet shade, blushing in apology. "Well…Emerald and Mercury helped bring us to our knees. We're just lucky Ironwood got us all out alive."

My breathing slowed. All of us. So that meant Weiss and Ruby were okay at the very least. Hopefully SSSN, JNPR, CFVY, and the others were all okay as well. "So everyone is alive?" I asked quietly, and Blake nodded. "You took the worst of us, and I was second. So…yeah, everyone's alive. A little mental trauma here and there and a few injuries, but we'll survive."

I nodded and looked deep into her eyes. I could see glimpses of worry, regret, guilt, and fear. Evidently the mental trauma she spoke of was affecting her as well. "Yeah…we'll survive. We both will." I said, holding her even tighter.


	3. Family Ties

The next few days were rough. Not because I started physical therapy, GOD no. They wanted me to start eating. With this robotic… **thing**. Sandwiches weren't a big deal cuz I mean…come on, you poke a hole in it and it's still the same sandwich. Today was soup though, and I almost immediately dumped the spoon I had in my lap. I almost immediately cursed the world for making me right handed. Thank god Blake was holding the bowl for me. She giggled and I felt myself blush. God that giggle of hers was adorable. "Want me to feed you?" She asked with a taunting smile…which I almost immediately blew off. "PFFFFFT nah, I got this. It's soup, dude." I took a bigger spoonful and dumped it on my hospital gown again. Blake laughed loudly as I kept trying. "Well you're not helping little miss pussy cat!"

Blake rolled her eyes and took the spoon from my hand, giving me a small mouthful of it. I didn't bother blowing on it, heat meant nothing to me. I was used to being on fire after all. Once that finished, the last thing in the world that I wanted to happen happened. Well, okay second worst….actually there's a lot worse that could have happened, but the point is I saw that familiar burst of red sprinting into my room. They'd finally let Ruby in to see me. I collapsed as she tackled me onto the bed. "SHE'S AWAAAAAAKE!" I groaned out a pathetic. "Whyyyyyyyy…" And raised my hand to get help from Blake. She chuckled and gave me a high five instead. Not cool.

Ruby realized she was smothering me and let me sit up just in time to see another familiar red cloak enter the room. Qrow. "Sup little Firecracker?" He said with a soft smile. I turned my eyes red and smiled back at him. "Not much old man." He chuckled as I played along and rustled Ruby's hair. "They didn't let anyone but your emo friend in here to see you for a while, figured the two of us would be too disruptive."

Blake rolled her eyes at the emo comment. "You did almost cleave the reception desk in half when they told you no." Qrow mocked a shocked expression. "Well of course, I'm her uncle! I should have unrestricted access to my niece's hospital room! I'm a vital part of her recovery!" I laughed along with them, mostly because I totally loved the thought of Qrow going nuts with his scythe on a desk just because he couldn't see me. I always figured he favored Ruby, so…it felt nice to be loved like this. Especially by him.

Ruby was staring at the new arm so long, I thought she was afraid of it. Then she spoke. "So wait…they turned your arm into your weapon now?" She said with a gasp and I nearly facepalmed. Of course she'd practically fall over herself for that. Having your weapon as a part of your body? She wouldn't put it past Ruby to go looking to get amputated to get in line. "Yep, and I can't grab anything or touch anything, cuz I might just punch it on accident." I said to prove my point.

She looked up at me apologetically with those big silver eyes, laughing nervously. She wasn't sure I was joking or not, to be honest I actually wasn't. "Sorry sis. It's just uh…it's kinda cool. I'm not gonna lie." I smiled and patted her on the head with it, I couldn't feel her soft hair anymore…it was horrible. "No worries kid." I said, I just couldn't bring myself to be mad or even annoyed with Ruby. I looked up at Qrow next, he hadn't taken his eyes off it since he'd come in the room. I could only assume he felt somewhat responsible. What kind of huntsman can't take care of his own niece, ya know?

"Yang…I'm sorry." He said finally, shaking his head. "If I'd been able to stop those guys back last year, if I'd gotten there faster then…none of this would have happened. You'd still have an arm, Blake wouldn't have almost bled out, Ruby and Weiss would still be at school…hell maybe you'd still have a fuckin' school." I looked up at him, surprised. He'd dealt with these guys before? I guess I shouldn't be shocked though, Qrow managed to get himself tied up in every major plot against Remnant. Especially those big master plots, as he was always so keen on telling Ruby. I hated that part of him, filling her head with all those stories. I didn't want her to get reckless like he was.

Blake spoke up next, and I jumped again. "It's not your fault Qrow. I…I should have been able to beat Adam. I messed up." I turned to her almost immediately, I wanted to smack that thought right out of her head! "What?! Blake this is NOT your fault!" My voice cracked and she looked up at me, doing whatever she could to avoid looking at that arm. I couldn't blame her; I'd be doing the same thing.

Ruby cleared her throat, reminding everyone she was still here and kicking her legs. "Well uh…I'll probably be back tomorrow since visiting hours are almost done. I promised Weiss I'd help her with the summoning issue." I tilted my head. Summoning issue? How much had I missed? Like, come on man. By the time my family had left the room, Blake was sitting silently again. I looked at her and swung my legs out of bed. I wasn't supposed to stand up yet, but I would if it meant getting a reaction out of Blake. "Listen, Blake." She looked up at me with a rather mixed expression. She was surprised I was being so active already, shocked I was willing to speak to her, and maybe even angry that I was moving before I should. "Don't blame yourself. This isn't your fault, if anyone it's Adam's. Okay?"

She didn't take that as well as I was hoping. "But Adam was after ME, Yang!" She managed, her voice sounded more like the squeak of a small child than the hardened huntress I was used to. "He hurt you because I couldn't do anything about it." I covered her mouth and shushed her, giving her a smile. "Listen to me Blake. We're going to deal with Adam. He made it personal for both of us now. But first I need you to help me back to 100%. I can't trust anyone else to do this." She looked up at me, she looked so surprised that I would trust her with this after everything that had happened in recent months. She slowly nodded her head though. "I understand." Was all she said as tears formed in her eyes. I don't want to see her cry anymore.


	4. Simple Tasks

I rolled myself out of bed and to my feet for the first time. Blake was there, just like always, to steady me. "You okay to stand?" She asked carefully. It wasn't like I'd failed twice in a row or anything. Oh wait, shit I did. I rolled my eyes. "Blake, my leg isn't the limb I lost." I blushed when I saw her look down in shame. I didn't mean it to be taken like that, I really didn't. I was trying to be witty, trying to be funny. Maybe…funny wasn't working anymore. Ironwood was there too, sitting next to Blake.

"While that may be the case Yang, standing is going to be difficult. You've been in that bed for over three weeks. You don't think you've lost some ability in that time?" I flipped him the bird and started to get up slowly, he smirked and rolled his eyes. Iron-pole-up-his-ass was starting to grow on me a bit. I stumbled and Blake motioned to catch me, but I was determined to do this. I wasn't going to let something as stupid as laying around keep me off my feet any longer than it should. Before I knew it I was back on my feet, smiling brightly. Blake clapped for me and I took a clumsy bow for her. I gave her a big hug and she gasped softly, quickly melting into a purr. OK, that was definitely a purr, so I'm not a racist! Nice!

Ironwood stood as well, and we spent the next few hours doing really simple tasks. Opening cabinets was the big one, and I only ripped two of them off the hinges. Blake made me some lunch and I only got my hand covered in mayo four times. It wasn't as bad as I'd been anticipating, if I'm going to be honest. I was expecting to be punching holes in walls and screaming for someone to stop the rollercoaster because I wanted to get off. But no, it was just a hand. It felt like back when I couldn't control my semblance again, and I'd just have to learn. The worst part of it was when Blake would put her hand over it. I didn't feel anything, and it was the worst sensation ever.

"Well, I'm quite sure you can handle the next step Ms. Belladonna." Ironwood said, nodding to Blake. Blake simply blushed as he left, leaving me wondering. "Next step?" I asked, honestly confused. "Well…last time Ruby was here…she kinda mentioned how much you smell these days." I blinked and realized I hadn't showered in WEEKS. I blushed and started limping toward the shower. "Alright I got this covered, easy." Then I stopped and looked at the arm. "This thing is waterproof, right?"

It was a stupid thing to ask in retrospect, almost childish, but Blake giggled. God I love it when she does that. "Yeah, it is. It's protected by your Aura even if it weren't. You just can't heal it like your normal body." OK, so that's good to know. I'd have an aura barrier protecting it while I beat Taurus' face in. Sweetness. I walked to the bathroom, closing the door behind me, but Blake stopped it with her foot. "No, you're not going in there alone and locking yourself in. If you fall you could get hurt."

I blushed and rolled my eyes. "Okay, MOM." I said obnoxiously, then froze when I went to walk toward the shower again. I was wearing a hospital gown. And that was it. I blinked and turned to Blake who motioned toward the shower again. "Go on." She chuckled. I blushed and yanked the stupid thing off, tossing it in Blake's face. I wasn't going to let her beat me like that. I quickly scrambled into the shower before she could get it off her face, and promptly fell straight on my ass.

I groaned and lay there naked as Blake walked over, clicking her tongue. "See, and you wanted to lock the door." I gave her a glare and tried to cover up a bit. "Just help me up." And, to her credit she did. I didn't even see her eye the girls for more than a couple seconds, so that's a plus. She sat on the lid of the toilet holding a fresh gown and some towels as she waited, just in case I fell again. She was so patient with me.

Once I was done, she passed the towels over the curtain to me. "I'm going to have to help you with the robe though, so your pride is going to have to take a hit or two." I rolled my eyes and started to towel myself off. "Oh please, you wish you had a figure like this." I almost thought I heard her reply through the curtain: "You're not wrong…"

Once I came back out, she quickly and awkwardly jammed me back into the gown, sitting me down on my bed again. "So…that happened." I said with a laugh. Blake was blushing and back to reading her book. It was one of those black ones without the name on the cover, so one of her 'romance' novels most likely. "Mmhmm, it did." Was all she replied with, clearly embarrassed now that it was all over.

I shrugged and pointed to the shower. "If you'd like, you could feel free to wash up~" She lowered her book and raised an eyebrow at me. "I do. Every single morning before you wake up." I blinked and stared at her, my jaw dropped. She was?! Then another thought crossed my mind. Why did I even care to begin with?! I gave her an awkward smile and shrugged. "Soooooo what're you reading?" She looked up from her book and blinked. "Oh, just a book."

I raised an eyebrow at her again. "No shit, Fuzzy-Wuzzy. What's it about?" She didn't look up again. "Oh, you know. The hero saves a princess from imprisonment and takes her to a new life to live happily ever after. Standard stuff." I raised an eyebrow and decided to test my new robotic arm. Faster than I'd ever seen any part of me move before, I snapped out and grabbed Blake's book from her with quite a bit of protest. "Hey! Give that back Yang!"

I chuckled. "Just give me a second, I wanna see what all the fuss is about~" I licked my lips and started reading a few lines. "Funny, you didn't mention the play chamber in your summary. Am I going to have to take points off of you Blake? This is going to be on the final exam!" She hissed and snatched it back with her own speed, hugging it tightly to her chest and blushing. It was at this point she realized she hadn't marked her page and frantically flipped through it, trying to find her place. God, she's just so adorable. Maybe moments like these were the reasons I cared so much.


	5. Coffee and Tea

The days were passing slowly, but training my new arm was going well to say the least. I was getting an idea for how pressure worked, I was even drinking tea with it! I mean…yeah, I hate tea, but still, that's delicate stuff there. And besides, Blake was making me the tea. That made it at least tolerable. She sat in her usual spot, smiling. "You know Yang, if you're feeling up to it, they say we can go out for a bit. Let you stretch your legs and see the sights of Atlas." I almost turned her down on the spot. I didn't want to see Atlas, I wanted to see Vale. I wanted to go back to before any of this happened, watch Pyrrha win the tournament for Vale, maybe end up in the finals with her if it hadn't been for that jackass Mercury. Then I realized something.

Blake had spent weeks in this room with me. She'd never bat an eye, and even now she seemed perfectly content to just stay here with me. I owed her as much as some food from a diner instead of a hospital. I nodded and stood up, I'd been getting better at that, before walking to the closet of the hospital room. It was a nice setup, really, and Blake had been nice enough to organize my clothes for me. I snagged myself some jeans and a yellow shirt from the closet, along with a black leather jacket. I'd lost my old brown one in the aftermath of the attack on Beacon, so Blake had bought me a replacement. She thought it'd look good on me. Then again everything looked amazing on me, so it was hard to go wrong.

After some help from Blake to get on my underwear, which we are NOT getting into, I jammed my pants on and the shirt, letting her put my new jacket on me. I felt like one of those edgy bad boys from her romance novels, especially with my new super arm. After putting on a leather glove over my special arm, I was practically rivaling the Edgelord himself. Blake had taken to calling him that, saying how he was so overly dramatic when they were together. I couldn't help but laugh a bit at it. I still couldn't believe he'd beaten me. He was just too doofy sounding in retrospect.

The two of us walked down the hallway and into the elevator, standing next to each other and just enjoying the ride. We'd spent so much time talking and sharing stories these past few weeks that I knew almost everything about Blake, and she knew almost everything about me. It was amazing, like having another sister. But this one was much less sugar hyped.

The elevator opened about halfway down and in stepped Velvet and Yatsuhashi. Apparently Yatsu had taken a bit of a hit from an Ursa partway through the battle. He was a bit embarrassed about it, but Velvet highlighted how brave he had been in fending off a hoard of them once she'd run out of weapons. Yang smiled as Blake praised him. "How noble of you." She told him, and the gigantic brute blushed and smiled. He was just a big teddy bear. Blake grinned and looked at me, evidently that fact had reminded her of someone else. I smiled back.

We parted ways with the V and Y of CFVY, and now I saw my first look of Atlas. At first glance it was…it was…literally just Vale with a chrome paint job. "I was expecting moving sidewalks…" I said, almost disappointed as I kicked a rock onto the stupid, not-moving sidewalk. Blake smiled and took my hand as we started walking. I didn't mind much. "It's so obvious that you and Ruby are sisters sometimes…you're so naive." She chuckled. I blushed. It was a nice moment.

I couldn't hold my curiosity much longer and I finally worked up the courage to ask her what all I'd slept through. Blake thought for a moment, no doubt picking what was best to tell me. "Just tell me all of it, Blake." I said, stopping outside a small cafe. She sighed and pointed to a table outside. Sit down, I'll get us some drinks and then we can talk, okay? I nodded, thankful that she was going to spit out the bad news. I sat myself down and put my legs up on a nearby railing. A few people who were passing by looked at me like some kind of barbarian. I mean, they're about half right, to be fair.

When Blake came back out with the drinks, I was beyond happy to see a distinct lack of tea in my cup. For once it was black coffee, perfect. I took a long swig of it and groaned, leaning my head back. "Oh that's perfect." I groaned out, and Blake laughed again. That instantly got a grin out of me, the more I could make her laugh, the better. The more I could remind her that this wasn't her fault. Then she broke the silence, explaining as much as she'd heard from the others. I already knew about the Edgelord, so she didn't have to spend much time on him, but it was nice to know what the others had been up to.

She told me about Ruby's fight on the airship with Roman Torchwick and Neo, and I couldn't believe what I was hearing. Ruby won? I'd been expecting so much worse but, hey, maybe Ruby really could handle herself. Weiss had figured out she could summon giant swords, which honestly was super cool, and I decided to make the mental note of talking to her about it tomorrow. And then I got hit with the big one. A giant Grimm dragon. My jaw dropped and I started fighting back on the conversation.

"A dragon Grimm...Blake, you're lying to me. That thing is supposed to be a fairy tale!" But Blake just shook her head. "All I know is that it's massive. Ruby and Pyrrha are the ones who saw it." I cracked my knuckles and smiled, well the ones on the good hand. The robotic one didn't really crack much. "Then we're just gonna have to be the team that kills it!" Honestly, the idea that this monster existed scared me to death. Grimm were dangerous enough, how were they even supposed to keep up with this thing?

Blake didn't seem nearly as concerned as I was though, or maybe she was just better at hiding it. "Well, you'd have to convince Ruby then." I just stared at her in confusion. usually Ruby would be the first one on the 'Lets kill it!' train. "Apparently she named it Kevin." She said with an honest to goodness laugh, and I couldn't help but crack up in return. "Kevin?! Really?!" That had to be the dumbest name for a Grimm ever...and yet I could totally see Ruby doing it.

We sat like that for hours, just talking. Blake would ask me to tell some of Qrow's stories, as well as some of my own from Signal. I obliged, and it was nice to feel like the hero again. I told her the stories of how Ruby brought home a baby Beowulf when she was just a little girl. It was kicking and howling, and she just wanted to keep it. Blake loved that one. I told as many stories as I could, because I wanted to be the confident hero that walked into Beacon our first semester. Blake was willing to let me play the part, and for that I'm infinitely grateful.


	6. Do I Need An Appointment?

Over the next couple of weeks, I'd been considering my time with Blake more and more. She wasn't just a friend anymore, at least not to me. I really wasn't sure what to do anymore and I needed someone to talk to. Ruby was out of the question because…well, she's still just a kid. I wasn't going to mess with her brain like that, let her stay innocent for a bit longer. Normally I'd always go to Blake with problems like this, but that wasn't an option if Blake was the problem. That left one more person I could go to.

I stood in my pajamas with Blake, she'd made me some coffee to start my morning. She'd evidently keyed into my preference, which was wonderful, and we sat talking about the dreams we'd had last night and what we should do today. "Honestly Blake, I think I should go talk to her on my own for a bit. You need to replace your weapon, remember?" Blake almost looked hurt, but she nodded. "You're right, I've put it off way too long." She said, although she clearly wasn't overjoyed about leaving me alone. Did she really think I was that fragile?

Oh right, I didn't mention. Gambol Shroud is gone. Apparently when Blake had carried me out, she was so concerned with helping me get away that she'd completely left behind her own weapon. It was heartwarming to know that the chance of reattaching my arm was more important than her weapons. Gambol Shroud was an extension of Blake herself, and she left it behind on a _gambol_. It was a nice gesture; you know?

Once we parted ways outside of the hospital, I practically ran to the gigantic tower in the middle of Atlas. The Schnee Dust Corporation. Ugh. They let me in rather quickly, given who I was, and I found Weiss in a training room with someone taller who I didn't quite recognize immediately. She looked like Weiss though, so I assumed they were related. When Weiss ran over and hugged me, I almost fell over. It was so unlike her. Then she looked up and slapped me across the face.

"Wha-What the hell was that for?!" I shouted, rubbing my now red cheek. "Because you almost got yourself killed you idiot! What did you expect it to be for?!" I groaned and stepped back. "Yeah, nice to see you too Weiss." I said, rolling my eyes and keeping my rage and irritation under control. Weiss had a way of getting under my skin like no one else I'd ever met. She was just so perfect and proper, but I kept myself under control. Mainly because you could tell she was trying so hard, and coming from a tower like this I could see why it was hard for her.

"I take it this is your other teammate, Weiss?" The taller woman walked over, looking down at me. Looking down **on** me. Weiss quickly assumed a more proper stance. "Oh, uh, yes. Winter, this is my teammate Yang. Yang, this is my older sister, Winter." I blinked suspiciously and shook the hand she offered. I saw her wince in pain and looked down. Guess I'd used too much pressure on a handshake, I'd have to work on that. "Sorry. New arm." I said, rolling up the sleeve of my new jacket just a little bit. Winter waved it off. "It's fine, General Ironwood mentioned you had a grip." She shook her hand though, that probably hurt like hell.

I didn't spend a ton of time speaking to Winter, really I just didn't like her tone. That seemed to be a running thing at Atlas though. The military style they had just didn't suit me at all. It made me wish Blake were here to talk to them for me, she always handled these types of people better. Luckily Weiss stepped in for me. "Winter, maybe we should take a break? I'm sure Yang had something to talk to me about."

Winter stood silently for a moment before nodding and giving us the room. As soon as the door shut I opened my mouth. "Jeez, and I thought Ironwood was uptight." Weiss sighed. "And sadly she's the most upbeat of my family members." She groaned, sheathing Myrtenaster. "So, her and Ironwood are uh...?" Weiss gave me a look that quickly made me drop the subject with a smirk. I was totally right. She walked to a nearby keypad and pressed some codes into it, the barren room transformed into some kind of lounge. The furniture looked like it was made of hardened light, and it honestly reminded me more of Velvet's copy weapons than anything else.

I took a seat across from Weiss and she smiled pleasantly, clearly just happy to talk to anyone who wasn't a Schnee for a few hours. "So what's on your mind, Goldilocks?" She asked, making a small gesture to try and get me talking. I looked at her with an eyebrow raised. "Goldilocks?" She blinked and blushed, shrugging. "Well…I mean…other people call you things. I figured I'd try." I laughed at her, leaning back in my chair. "Yang works."

After a bit of pouting, Weiss was ready to talk again, so I took the opportunity. "Hey, Weiss? I've been thinking a lot lately. After those mechs shut down, we split up to look for Ruby and Blake, right?" Weiss nodded and crossed her legs neatly. She always had to do the perfect motion out of risk of offending people, honestly I wouldn't have noticed anything less subtle than flipping me off or kicking me out the window. "Go on?"

I played with the robotic fingers of my new arm nervously. "Well…I sent you after Ruby, and I went after Blake. Ruby's my baby sister…ya know?" Weiss had a shocked look on her face. "Yang, Ruby is still my partner, and you're Blake's. You sent me and a group of the best of our generation to look for her, there is no shame in that! Especially with how much was going on at once!"

I smirked and shook my head. "Yeah but, you'd think my little sister would be my biggest priority, you know? Don't you think Snow White back there would have come looking for you first?" Weiss narrowed her eyes. "Her name is Winter." I rolled mine. "You say potato; I'll say Snow White. The point is, when I found Blake, I was so angry when I saw her being hurt like that…"

Weiss almost immediately interrupted me again. "Well that's natural, Yang. You're a hotheaded brawler. You think it's your job to protect people. Any other reaction would worry me." I sighed. She wasn't wrong. "But that's not all, Weiss. I was so much angrier than I've ever been in my life and…" I stopped, lost in thought. What had really triggered me like that? Was it actually Blake screaming in pain, or was it something I'd missed?

Weiss seemed to have the same thought process and sat back, thinking. "Well, what else did you see? You fought your way to Blake, and then what happened? Blake won't give me all the details." I sighed and scratched my head, playing with my hair a bit afterward. It was a habit I had to calm myself. I just had to be careful to use my normal arm to do it now. Robot arms can yank out hair sometimes.

"You told me where Blake was, you told me about the White Fang, and I just took off. I was so angry already, and…I couldn't find her." She nodded, motioning for me to go on. "I was screaming her name, and I was just terrified I'd lost her. Then I heard _**his**_ voice." Weiss stopped me with a raised eyebrow. "Whose voice, Yang?"

My eyes turned red and my hair started glowing, I couldn't even try to calm myself as I relived it. "Adam Taurus. I heard him call her his 'darling', he called her 'his love' and tried to lop her goddamn head right off her shoulders." I couldn't even see straight anymore, and then I felt a cold hand on my burning hot skin. I looked up and Weiss was there, doing her best to comfort me. "That's when you got so angry, wasn't it? That's when you jumped in?"

I blushed and nodded, and she smiled. "Well, Yang, I always knew you were a bit of a tomboy, but even I didn't expect this." I slowly started to cool down as my anger was replaced by confusion. "Expect what now?" Weiss rolled her eyes. "Come on Yang, even you aren't this dense. I think you have a girl crush on our local housecat." I blushed and stared at her, shocked she'd even said it. Then I realized that she was right. Weiss almost always seemed to be right.


	7. An Old Friend

It was weird to think about what Weiss had told me as I left. I walked out of the tower feeling more confused than when I'd walked in, and I shivered just a little bit. For once the cold was bothering me. To be fair, this is Atlas, about as far north as you could possibly get, and fall was almost over. I'd have to mention to Blake that we should go shopping for some winter clothing. At the very least something like a hoodie. That might be nice. I wouldn't want those cute little cat ears of hers to get cold.

I blinked and brought myself back to reality, did I really just think that? I blushed as if I'd been saying everything I was thinking, I felt like everyone was going to know what was going through my head, and that thought terrified me. The scariest part was that I wasn't sure why I was scared. It's not like I'd never had boyfriends before. Signal was crawling with guys who would follow me anywhere. Maybe I was just losing my touch or something?

I bit my lip and thought about that possibility. I had other competition these days for sure. Pyrrha was the object of most guys' affections, same with Coco. To be fair I can't blame them. Even Ruby drew some of the attention away from me when it came to sex appeal, and she wasn't even trying. Not sure how to feel about that one at all. The cutesy style just works sometimes; I guess? Then it hit me like a sack of bricks. I've never had a girlfriend before. I've never been attracted to a woman, I've never hit on one, I've never been hit on by one. I was always straight, so this was just a new issue for me! I'd just practice like I used to with boys, easy!

As I walked down the street I started scoping people out. Not for abs and muscle this time, but more for chests and hips. That…really wasn't doing much for me, not gonna lie. I blinked and thought about it. To be fair, Blake wasn't exactly a well-endowed lady, so maybe that's not it. Could be that booty of hers, so I started scoping for those. That did even less for me and I didn't understand it at all. Blake drove me wild, but these girls on the street did nothing for me. Not like when I first finished up puberty. I groaned loudly and pulled out my scroll, flicking through some old pictures of the team. Mostly, I focused on Blake. I just couldn't get her out of my head right now.

So I caved in. I started walking toward the weapon shop Blake was getting her weapons done at and I ran directly into Sun. He was doing something on his scroll as well, and he stumbled as we bumped each other. "Hey, I'm walkin' here!" And I replied in kind. "So am I, we all do it sometimes." Then we both stopped and looked up, laughing. "Oh, hey Yang! How're you holding up?" I shrugged. "Nice and symmetrical again, so there's that." Was all I could reply with. At least I was back to making people laugh, so there's always that.

I realized who I was talking to a few seconds in and quickly yanked him into the nearby alleyway by his tail. He yelped in protest and tried to wrestle me, but robot arms have a vice grip. "Ah! What the hell, Yang! That thing isn't for show, you know!" I flipped him around and shushed him. For once in his life, he listened and shut his mouth. "Listen, Sun, I have to talk to you about something. And not a 'I'm gonna go tell Neptune as soon as Yang turns her back' something, I mean a really secret something, okay?"

Sun stood there dumbfounded. "Uhhh…alright, what's up?" He leaned back against the wall and put his hands in his pockets. Sun was a good listener, he always was. It was something I appreciated him for, and I knew so did Blake. "OK, so…this is going to sound really stupid, but I think I have a crush on Blake." I barely choked out that sentence, but he evidently heard it just fine over the hustle of the street on the other side of the building we were behind. "…Okay." Was all he said, shrugging.

I blinked and tilted my head in shock, blush fading from my face. "So…what, you don't have anything to say about it?" Sun just shrugged again, his tail fishing his scroll back out of his pocket. "Nah, I kinda thought you two were already together, not gonna lie." I stood there dumbfounded. He thought we were already gay for each other? I wasn't sure whether I should be impressed at the foresight on toward my feelings, or embarrassed I didn't catch something from Blake sooner. "What do you mean you thought we were already together?"

Sun gave me a look like I'd just asked him why he has a tail. "Yang, come on. You two spend about half your time together, and the other half is either training or sleeping. You share everything with each other, and you were the one she wanted to have her first dance with before the Festival." I stood there like an idiot before I started playing with my hair again. "So…she likes me? She told you that?"

Sun made a weird sort of 'ehhhh' motion with his hands. "She never SAID anything, but if I'm gonna be honest, Blake isn't the best at hiding things like that. Anger, happiness, sadness, sure. Those you never see. But jealousy and embarrassment are hard for her to hide. Especially with those ears of hers." I raised an eyebrow, prompting for him to explain. "OK, so, think about it this way. When a cat gets embarrassed, its ears go flat and it tries to hide in as small of a space it can, right?" I nodded, realizing where he was going with this. "Well, Neptune mentioned he kinda had a thing for you while I was in our room with Blake. She got so jealous at first, and then her ears just went completely flat and she hid in the corner. It was adorable but I mean, what does that sound like to you?"

I laughed quietly and rubbed the metal between my glove and jacket. Sun noticed and put a hand on my shoulder. "Don't let this be something you regret, Yang. If you feel that way, go talk to her about it. She'd love it." With that he turned away and held up his scroll with his tail. "Next time you want to talk to me though, don't pull the tail, just message me on the thing its holding." I smiled and sent him a message as I walked down the street again. "Thanks. I needed that."


	8. Stingers

'Dust in the Wind'. I was staring at the massive sign outside. This is where Blake had apparently decided to get her new weapon, on recommendation from Weiss. They belong to the same branch as 'From Dust 'Till Dawn', so it was something I was at least familiar with. Looking in through the window, the layout was almost identical. Dust lining the front desk, different weapon pieces on the shelves that ran all the way to the back, and your odds and ends once the back of the store was reached. Ruby would always go back there and look at all the weapon manuals with her headphones on when we were younger. We would walk in with Dad when he had to refill some dust cartridges and she'd shoot to the back with her semblance almost immediately. Then it was my job to go get her. That part wasn't nearly as fun or cute.

As I looked in, I noticed the clerk standing over his register and…holy crap, these guys must all be brothers. He looks exactly like the guy who runs the shop back in Vale. I blinked and looked behind him for any sign of Blake in the store. I couldn't see her at first, so I decided it was best to walk in. As I opened the door, a blast of heat hit me and it was beyond relieving. The cold winter air disappeared around me and was replaced with the smell of gunpowder and refined steel. This was more my style, for sure. As the door itself closed, a little bell rang out, signaling it had been opened for anyone who cared to look. The shopkeep looked up and waved at me, so I decided to return it. No point in being rude just because I was looking for someone.

I smirked as I thought of Blake. Those little ears turn toward whatever sound they hear, so she probably already knew I was in the store. It really wouldn't shock me. I started roaming the isles, looking at a few different cartridges as I went. It wouldn't hurt to do some shopping while I was here, right? I noticed one that was particularly expensive, and it had a color of dust in it that I wasn't exactly familiar with. According to the tags, it was a modified version of air dust, designed to emit a sound based attack. I put it down and shook my head. I wasn't gonna mess with it and go deaf too, no thank you.

As I rounded the corner, I saw my little kitten looking over a hilt for the new weapon. She looked like she could use some input on it, so I decided to make my presence known. I walked up behind her and hugged her around the waist, laughing as I got her to jump. "You look like you could use a hand." I said with a wink. She rolled her eyes and smiled. "So do you." I went wide eyed and look down at her. Did she just make a pun?! I had to be rubbing off on her, there's no way I wasn't.

"So, that's the new hilt for the G.S., huh?" I asked, sitting down on the table next to her, the shopkeeper almost panicked and I looked down. I actually sat right next to a dust crystal. Whoops, that could have been bad. I climbed back down and waved at him apologetically, allowing him to get back to work.

"Well, maybe. It feels really clunky and I honestly don't know about the grip." I clicked my tongue and looked around. "Well...let's see what we can find shall we? The GS was a katana by raw design, right?" I started humming and rummaging through a pile of sword parts nearby. Parts he hadn't put on the shelf yet. I felt a few sharp edges hit my hand, but it was nothing my aura couldn't block. Then I blinked and swapped over, using my robotic hand to do the same job. That hurt a million times less. I managed to fish out an old fashioned katana handle from it, holding it out to her. "Your very own grip, your kittyness! Forged in a dying star, cooled in the snow of the highest mountaintops of Remnant! Bathed in the blood of the most heinous creatures to ever plague the-"

Blake pulled it from my grip and swung it around lightly, and I groaned. "You didn't even let me finish..." Blake giggled again. That's what I was aiming for, mission accomplished. We can pack it up everybody. She tested it with both hands, nodding. "This actually feels great, Yang." She said, looking at the different blades she could work with it.

I gave her a big toothy grin and looked up at what there was to work with. "Well let's see…it's not an axe or a dagger, so clearly we should be looking for a sword blade." Blake rolled her eyes. "You don't say?" I scratched between her ears and pulled an involuntary purr from her throat. "Oh but I do say." She rolled her eyes and climbed up, taking a silver blade from the very top of the rack, lining it up with the hilt on the table. That was all simple enough. Now came the hard part. "OK…now the firing mechanism." I ticked my tongue. That was always the hard part. A huntress' weapon is nothing without a way to use dust, and Blake would need a way to harness it for herself. I got to work but Blake already had placed one on the table while I wasn't looking. It was a multipurpose weapon. It could go single fire like the old model Blake had been using for years, or it could work fully automatic, letting her ballistic dance be a bit more…I dunno, ballistic?

She grabbed the sheath and placed it behind the weapon, sighing contently. It was actually done, and I had helped her with it. That was such a satisfying moment for me, to know that I had helped her in any way that I could. I almost mentioned my talk with Sun when she spoke next. "So now I need to name it." She said. The shopkeep had already come back and collected the weapon while I was thinking. For old guys, him and his brothers were fast. "A name? Isn't this just an upgraded G.S.?"

She shook her head. "Adam gave me the Gambol Shroud. It only makes sense for me to leave it behind." I couldn't help but feel terrible about putting so much emphasis on that name now. It was only bringing up more painful memories for her. This would complicate things just a little bit between us. She looked up suddenly with those big yellow eyes of hers. "I got it!" She squeaked out, and I was almost surprised that voice was coming from Blake. "What if I name it the Stinger?" I raised an eyebrow. "Why Stinger?"

She blushed and shrugged. "Well, Gambol Shroud was made by Adam. Gambol means to jump around freely, while a shroud is meant to hide something. Gambol Shroud meant that we would hide our true intentions until it was time to strike." I almost shuddered at the story. That weapon was corrupted by Adam's views and Blake knew it. No matter how she tried to change the name's meaning, she just couldn't. It would always be Adam's tool.

"But…with stinger…well, our colors are yellow and black. Bees are yellow and black and they have stingers. So it's a light and fast weapon that attacks rapidly, just like a swarm of bees. Stinger." I smiled and hugged her right then and there. The fact that I was a deciding factor of her weapon's name was so touching. She trusted me that much, and it made my heart flutter.

We paid for the weapon and walked out, Blake testing its weight as we walked down the road. It was a bit heavier, but she was sure she would manage it just fine. We made our way back to the hospital just in time for the curfew they had set for me before we left. Now that I was alone in my room with her, I wanted to open up to her and explain what I'd gone to see Weiss about. I wanted to tell her what Sun had told me, but I just couldn't. Not after the talk about Adam. It'd just have to wait another day.

She helped me shower before I got ready for bed, and we sat there watching the news for a bit, just looking over the relief efforts toward Vale. Neither one of us were in any condition to help the other Huntsmen and Huntresses taking back the city, so we had to sit back and watch. That was when Blake mentioned today's activities. "Oh! I almost forgot, how is Weiss?"

I actually started to sweat a little bit. I hadn't thought up what kind of lie I would tell her, especially considering I was planning on coming clean. "Oh ya know. Schnee stuff. Atlas problems, am I right?" Blake didn't' seem entirely convinced, though she nodded. "Alright, I'll probably go see her tomorrow."

That one got me sweating. As soon as I was sure Blake was asleep, I pulled my scroll out of my jacket pocket, sending a few messages back and forth with Weiss.

"Weiss, Blake is probably gonna come see you tomorrow, alright?"

"OK, that's nice of her. Tell her I'll be waiting for her, okay?"

"DON'T TELL HER ANYTHING ABOUT OUR TALK WEISS. THIS IS SOMETHING I HAVE TO DO MYSELF."

Yang could practically feel Weiss rolling her eyes at the all caps message. "OKAY."


	9. Rehabilitation Begins

Every morning I would wake up with the intention of talking to Blake about that night. I wanted to talk to her about my talks with Weiss and Sun but it was a lot harder than I'd expected. I couldn't be afraid, right? Yang Xiao Long doesn't get scared of anything. Not Roman Torchwick, not Neo, not the Grimm, not Emerald and Mercury, nothing. And yet, here I couldn't talk to my best friend about the one thing bothering me the most. It was positively mind numbing.

I spent a lot of the coming week in the gym with General Ironwood. It was a huge blank room, covered in bars and mirrors for stretching. Bags would hang from the ceiling in a few intervals, and there was a huge mat for sparring practice. Ironwood was such a huge help when it came to fixing the issues I was having with my arm. He could just teach me things that Blake simply couldn't, and that got my mind off things. Punching shit always tends to do that for me. Blake was, of course, nearby. She was practicing with Stinger, getting herself back into fighting shape. In-between her strikes she would take breathers though, no doubt nursing that wound in her gut. If I took a sword in the stomach and out my back, I'd probably have to spend some time on the shelf too, so I wasn't even about to fault her for it.

"Yang, how are you holding up? Your attacks are slowing down!" Ironwood was monitoring me while I took shots at the bag. He wasn't dressed in his usual suit, instead he went with track pants and a muscle top. He'd been working out with me, so the suit was a bit…impractical. As for me and Blake, I had swapped over to a tank and my old shorts, while Blake was wearing her usual mission gear. She'd always argue that if she was going to fight in it, she should train in it. Makes sense, I guess.

"Oh, sorry. Just thinking." I said, shrugging, getting back to work. Right jab. Right hook. I was right handed before all of this, but now it was just getting absurd. Everything had to be with my right hand for now. To be fair I could understand why, it just got annoying. A few punches and kicks later and I found Ironwood standing in front of me, rather than the bag. He'd brought his gun in and I'd put on the other Ember Celica bracelet. "You ready for this, Jimmy?" I taunted, triggering them both. We'd loaded blanks instead of live dust cartridges. It wasn't like we were out to kill each other or anything.

Ironwood held his left arm behind his back, twirling his own gun. What did he call that thing anyway? "Of course, Yang. A huntsman is always prepared." I took that as my cue and charged forward, bringing down my right arm like a wrecking ball. Honestly, I felt so much stronger than when I was all natural, but Ironwood blocked it with the butt of his gun. He didn't even look. "Unfortunately, you aren't a huntress yet, are you?"

For an old guy he was pretty fast, jumping up and kicking me with that damned biotic leg of his. I went flying back into the wall, getting up on the spot. "Yeah, I'm working on it. I haven't had a century and a half like you have." I hopped right back in, dodging a shot to the face from the butt of his gun and aiming a kick at his back. He caught it with the hand he'd been keeping there, flipping me back around and elbowing me to the ground.

"To be fair, I said I'd hold my left arm behind my back." He said, placing it back there with a smug grin. "I never said I wouldn't use it." I hopped back to my feet and started taking Ember Celica shots at him, swapping between ranged and melee when I could, but he just shrugged it off. He was just out of my league. "Yang, this isn't for you to try and beat me. This is for you to test your arm in combat, to see if we need to make adjustments."

I saw Blake in the corner of my eye. She was watching this entire fight, and that was enough to drive me forward. I slammed my fists together and my hair shot up like a wildfire, just like I was used to. At least that still worked. "So what? I can still win!" I shouted charging in. He sighed and went to block with his gun again, but my punch knocked it straight out of his hand. With a gigantic punch to the chest, I knocked him back a few feet.

Jimmy smirked and stood up, stretching out his back. "That'll do Yang, I concede." He said, walking over to retrieve his weapon. I returned mine to their bracelet forms and looked at him in confusion. "What do you mean you concede? Your aura is barely damaged." Then I saw the monitor he'd rigged up. I was at about 45%, Ironwood was still rocking a clean 87. "Well, there's not a point in continuing the fight. I have the data I want." He walked over and rustled my hair, which admittedly made me laugh a bit. "And besides, the last thing I want to do is hurt you even more." He taunted, stepping out of the room. This was a weird feeling, must be like how Ruby always felt with Uncle Qrow when they trained.

I walked over to sit with Blake, grabbing a towel for the sweat that was pouring off my forehead. "Hey, how's Stinger treating you?" I asked casually, sitting on the bench next to her. She just shrugged and looked it over again. "I'm still getting used to the weight distribution. It's not bad, just different." I nodded, grabbing a bottle of water from the cooler she'd brought. Why did Blake only like the drinks I hate? Life is just so unfair, man.

"How's the arm training going?" She asked, a bit nervously as she gestured to the door Ironwood had left through. I smiled to show there wasn't anything for her to worry about. "Really well, honestly. Jimmy's a huge help, and he's kinda cool to hang out with. I think he only has a stick up his ass when he has to be 'General' Ironwood."

Blake laughed quietly, but I couldn't help but notice her ears had angled just a bit. Was this what Sun was talking about before? Reading her like a cat? "…Blake, are you _jealous_ of _Ironwood_?" I had to ask, mostly because I just couldn't believe it. She looked up at me blushing, her ears went flat to her head, dragging the bow she wore right with them. "What? Of course not! He's just your training partner."

I gasped and put a hand on her shoulder, shaking her lightly. "Oh my Dust you ARE jealous of him!" Blake pulled out her book and scooted away just a little bit, clearly trying to end this conversation. "Yang please, you're being ridiculous." Yeah, that's what she said whenever she wanted to avoid talking about something. Just like when I'd tried to talk to her about Sun. Then again, apparently Blake is a lesbian, so it makes a lot more sense now that she wasn't interested.

"Yeah alright, fine." I scooted back closer to her, looking over her shoulder. "Whatcha readin'?" She groaned and tilted it away from my view. "A book."

"Same one as the other week?" She blushed and marked her page before closing it. "No, this is a different one." I clicked my tongue and tried to read the spine. I couldn't get the full title, but it wasn't that BDSM playroom book she'd been reading, that was for sure. That one was Ninjas of Love, pretty sure this one said something like 'The Valkyries of…' and then her hand covered the rest of the title. I couldn't even look this one up on my scroll, what a killjoy.

Speaking of my scroll, I spent a good hour playing with it, mostly texting Weiss. "Hey Weiss, how do I ask out a girl?" It took a few minutes before she answered me, probably working with Winter still. "How do you normally do it with guys?" Was the message I got back. I blinked and thought about it. I really just…didn't. They usually came to me first. I went to send that message back, but my robotic arm had a bit of difficulty hitting the keys and registering them. And you thought texting with gloves was terrible.

"Ea, rea ever dd, te cae t e" was what Weiss got back, and I got an instant response of "Excuse me?" I groaned and went back to the one handed texting I'd have to get used to. "Sorry, the new hand doesn't do texting well. Guys usually just came to me, so I never did."

Weiss was messaging me back pretty quickly; I could only assume she was using this as an excuse to avoid her family again. That's a really sad thought, honestly. "OK, well, maybe you could try asking her to go for drinks? Or for a ride on Bumblebee? Or…to go punch things? I dunno, what else do you like to do?" I laughed, it was pretty loud and obnoxious too, which made Blake look up in confusion. I pointed to my scroll and she just nodded, going back to her book with a very content smile on her face. She could really just get lost in those for hours and be happy with it. It was so unnatural to me.

"LOL, Well I guess I could give it a try right? Thanks for being so cool about this Weiss, I know how weird this must be for you." It was about 10 minutes before I got another response, which was bizarre after that texting spree we'd just had. "As long as my teammates are happy, that's all that matters." I sighed and put it away, poking Blake in the arm.

She jumped a few inches off the bench and looked up at me. She was really into that book; she'd almost forgotten I was here. "Hey, once you're done mentally masturbating to your smut book, wanna go get something to eat?" I realized as soon as I'd said it that I really hadn't told her much of anything. This was still teammates and best friends going to get some food. She nodded though and blushed bright crimson. "Sure thing, Yang." She said, standing up and closing it, sliding it back into her back where it would be safe. "It's just a book though." She said quickly, obviously just trying to defend herself. I put an arm around her as we walked out. "Whatever helps you sleep at night, Blake."


	10. Bumblebees

I'm not going to lie, watching Blake eat has to be one of the cutest things about my life. We'd managed to find ourselves a sandwich shop thanks to Weiss, she was such a big help in all of this. Then again, she probably just ships it. This place had everything, 12 different kinds of bread, fresh ingredients for whatever you wanted to make, and the Schnee family actually owned the restaurant. That means Blake and I get to eat for free on Weiss' tab. That's pretty sick.

I got myself a nice big hoagie for my lunch. Ham, cheese, lettuce, salami, the works. You know what goes on those. Then Blake managed to talk them into giving her a tuna sandwich, hold the mayo. We sat across from each other at the table outside. The air was still a bit cold, but it was manageable. We'd still enjoy the sun while it was out, I suppose.

We both took a sip of our drinks, I got a fizzy fruit…thing. I really dunno what you call this thing. I flipped the bottle around and checked the label again. A Fizzy Lindsay? That's a really weird name but, okay. I'll roll with it. Blake of course got herself some milk, and I almost laughed at her for it. I'd never realized how many habits her faunus heritage caused her to adopt. It was like I was seeing her in an all new light.

We talked about a few different things. I asked her how her injuries were healing, I mentioned running into Sun on the way to see her, and then I remembered. "Oh, Blake, didn't you mention you wanted to go see Weiss today?" Blake nodded and swallowed her mouthful of fish and bread. "Yeah, I went to see her before I met up with you and General Ironwood." I nodded and sipped my drink. I was really worried Weiss might have told her something, honestly. "So…what'd you guys talk about?"

Blake shrugged and took a sip of milk. "A few things. Mostly I was someone for her to talk to about her father and the trouble he's been giving her. Then we talked about when we figured school would get started again." I nodded, that sounded like them. Blake was a book worm and Weiss was the perfect princess. Always getting their work done days in advance and leaving me and Ruby in the dust back on chapter 3. It was just unfair and cruel, really.

I put my feet back up on the nearby railing, getting a few glares from the military types. That's right, take it all in folks. Yang Xiao Long the rebel baby! I'll put my feet right up on your railing, and you're gonna smile at me and like it! "Speaking of Weiss, I'm guessing you two have gotten over the whole…fffffff…fur issue?" I had almost slipped and called it the Faunus issue. Almost. If Blake hadn't given me that look I probably would have.

Blake nodded and spoke a bit more quietly now. "We have, yes. She's grown to be a lot more understanding these past few months. I'm proud of her." She said in a hushed tone, licking her lips of the milk she'd just drank. I nodded, agreeing with her whole heartedly. I wouldn't have put it past her to hate me or my crush on Blake when we first started at Beacon. I wouldn't have put it past her to just go blab to her as soon as I turned my back. Instead though, she was proving herself to be a very trustworthy friend. "Maybe the Ice Queen is melting after all." I said. We shared a laugh for that one.

Once we finished our food and started walking back toward the hospital, I groaned. How was I going to manage this one? I stopped her outside the elevator and pulled her into the nearest broom closet. "Hey, Blake?" She looked at me with eyes full of confusion, tilting her head slightly. What is it about the Faunus that makes them so good at listening to me? Blake, Velvet, Sun, all of them. Maybe they were just used to being the ones needing to talk?

"I've been thinking a lot over the past month. We spend just about all of our time together, you know?" She nodded at me, eyes widening with excitement. There's something else that she just couldn't hide as her bow perked up, following the pattern made by the ears it hid. "So…I'm not gay. That's the first thing we need to get straight." That was when her expression slipped back to normal. "Ummm…okay?"

Wow, talk about six steps back, eh? I slipped a finger through my hair and blushed. "But…I don't think this is about sex appeal or anything. I mean…not that there's anything wrong with you sexually! You're really pretty! It's just that I'm kind of…" Wow, this was not going well. I've never stumbled with words before, not since I was a little girl. Now was obviously the best time to start though, thanks brain. You're the best. "What I'm trying to say is that…I kinda like you. As in, more than just my teammate or my partner...and I like you a lot more than a friend."

Blake froze and stared at me for a moment. I saw a million emotions flash through her eyes and she grabbed my jacket, yanking me forward and kissing me. It was the greatest moment of my life, better than anything that could have happened to me before that. I held her close and kissed her back, closing my eyes. I'd never felt more alive in that moment. "We'll go back to your room, okay? Then we can talk about this better."

I nodded as I remembered where we were. We were in a janitor's closet making out like a couple of horny teenagers. To be fair, we were horny teenagers, we were just following the most clichéd natural instincts we could! Once we were in the elevator, I kept an arm around Blake and leaned against the wall as we made the slow climb up. My room was toward the top of the hospital, so it was a bit of a trip. After about 3 floors of nothing, I figured there was no harm, so I pulled her into a few small kisses.

She giggled and kissed my neck, I was in absolute ecstasy. I heard the door open and looked at the number. 6? I was sure I'd hit floor 9. Then I looked up and Blake blushed hard. "Oh…Hi Jaune." Sure enough, standing right outside the elevator was Jaune Arc, holding some flowers and a little note he'd written with Pyrrha's name on it. I turned about the same shade as Blake and Jaune smiled, tapping the button on the elevator for us. "I'll catch the next one I guess." He said with a shrug, and I gave him a little salute. Thank god he was already the king of awkward or that would have been a whole lot more stupid. I fished my scroll out of my pocket and sent Weiss a message. Just a little thumbs up emoji. She sent back two of her own.


	11. Cuddly Buzzing

Being together with Blake, like, officially, made that the greatest day of my life. We managed to make it to my room before I dragged her into my lap. Lots of cuddling, making out, it was an intense feeling. Blake had been wanting this so long, and I'd been completely unaware just how much I wanted it. I didn't even realize that my scroll was blowing up until we finally separated about half an hour later.

"Yang, what do you think we should tell Ruby?"

"Hello?"

"Yang come on, pry yourself off her face for half a second."

"YANG XIAO LONG I AM TALKING TO YOU!"

"OK, texting you, and it's probably on vibrate. Or silent. But…just text me back."

I showed the messages to Blake and she laughed pretty hard at it. "Weiss knew about this?" I went pale pretty quickly and shrugged. "Uhm…well technically. I just wanted to make sure before she blabbed to you, ya know?" Blake didn't seem upset though, she seemed entertained by the idea of me being so afraid of her knowing about all of this.

With that out of the way, it brought up the real question. Ruby. I put my legs up and bit my lip, twirling my hair around a finger. Ruby wasn't exactly a judgmental type, but I'd never actually explained to her that same-sex relationships could be a thing. Blake sat up in her chair, now cross legged. "Well, I'm here to help you explain it to her if you'd like. You don't have to do things like this alone anymore."

I looked at her like she'd just unraveled the mysteries of the universe to me. I don't know how I didn't think like that before, but she was right. She was actually there to help me from this point on. Whether it was Ruby being Ruby, me bitching about Weiss, talking about my chronic mommy issues, or even the stupid shit like oiling my arm! And I would be there just like before, whether it meant racism, irrational hatred, the White Fang, even the Edgelord himself.

I shrugged. "Well…Ruby's just a kid. We could tell her exactly what this is and I don't think she'd really care that much." Blake nodded. "She is pretty open minded…" She said, clearly a bit nervous about it. I put a hand on her shoulder, tilting my head to look her in the eyes. "We've got this, okay?" She nodded, pulling her book out of her bag as I went back to my scroll. Weiss was still trying to get a hold of me.

"Sorry, me and Blake were talking. What's up?"

"Mmhmm, talking. I believe that. I was just wondering if you've talked to Ruby about this yet?"

"No, not really. She knows Blake and I are spending a ton of time together but nothing else."

"Do you want me to talk to her? Just in case?"

"No, I got it Weiss, but thanks anyway."

"Alright. Good luck lovebirds!"

And that was it, I didn't hear from Weiss for the rest of the day. She seemed really excited about this whole thing, and a lot more tolerant than I was expecting her to be. I couldn't help but wonder about that. Blake came out of the bathroom with a towel around her while I watched Remnant News. So much of me wanted to be out there taking out Grimm, like ABRN, BRNZ and FNKI. They were working their asses off and they weren't even from Vale. They just didn't have any injuries, so they felt it was their duty as huntsmen and huntresses.

Blake sat next to me and seemed to read my mind. "You wanna be out there too, huh?" I nodded slowly, watching Neon kick a beowolf directly into an Ursa to get it off of Reese. "I literally feel useless." I said with a small groan, leaning back on the bed. "Speaking of uselessness, when are these doctors gonna clear me to leave?" It was a question I had to ask. No one had told me a ton about it.

Blake shrugged, leaning on my legs. "They're just doing what they need to do to make sure your arm is right. General Ironwood is running his tests, and soon you're going to be ready to leave." I scratched between her ears, drawing a long, deep purr from her. "Where are you staying once we're done here?" I asked out of curiosity. Truth be told I hadn't put any thought into it myself. At this point I felt like I was going to be in that hospital room forever. Blake evidently had put about the same amount of thought into this whole thing. "I dunno. I figured Weiss might be able to set something up for me like she did for Ruby." I nodded, sighing. "We can probably just share a room there like we do here."

She nodded with a big yawn as she stood back up, walking over to put on her pajamas. For once I didn't have to stop looking at her when she did. "And when we come to that point, that's when we can tell Ruby since we'll both be together for it." I nodded as Blake took her usual spot on the visitor's chairs. "Blake, you know the bed fits two, right?" I said, scooting over. Fresh sheets and no need for a hospital robe anymore, so I was totally down.

She raised an eyebrow and looked me up and down. "…I guess it can…" She said, slowly crawling over the side of it and curling up next to me. Into a ball. Like a cat. I chuckled and put my arms around her waist, that got her purring pretty quick. "Don't worry kitten, I've gotcha." I smiled as I whispered to her, drawing a blush. "That's so racist." She said with an awkward little laugh. I replied with one of my own. "Oh, I know."


	12. Nightmares

You'd think that with Blake I'd have the best sleep I could have. You'd be so incredibly wrong. That night was the most restless sleep I've ever experienced. Worse than our little field trip with Doctor Oobleck back at Beacon. It was horrible.

Everything was dark, I couldn't see a thing, but I felt Blake in front of me. I felt her ears in front of my face, that was all I cared about right now. I had to protect her, but I had no idea what from. That's when Adam walked into view. He had a disgusting smile on his face, and I knew he was looking at me this time, not Blake. "You honestly think I'll let you take her from me?" He asked with a sick laugh, he drew his sword and I tried to sit up and turn on my Ember Celica. I wanted to show him just how much stronger my arm was now. But I couldn't move, I couldn't do anything.

He put his sword inbetween us and used it to split us up. Blake was trembling, she looked terrified as she stared at me. She put her hand out to reach for me…and Adam stabbed her through the hand, pinning it to the floor. When I heard her scream, that was when I found my voice. "I'll rip that smug head off your fucking shoulders! I swear to Dust I'll…I'll…"

Adam just laughed and walked over, kicking me in the gut and holding that stupid shotgun sheath. "You'll what, Yang? Hop around and lose another arm?" He laughed and kicked me again. "Maybe Blake can beat me with it while she tries to get away from me!" I tried to get up, finding the strength to move. He took his shotgun and shot my arm out from under me, forcing me to scream in pain. "And the best part is…she'll NEVER get away from me!"

He punted my skull and sent my skidding away. I saw him walk back toward Blake and that's when I started moving again. I used what was left of my arm to start crawling back toward them. I'd fight him. I'd lose, but I'd do everything I could to protect her. I forced myself to my feet, but fell right back down as my leg disappeared from under me.

I screamed for him to stop with what happened next. I begged. I cried. He didn't care. That's when my eyes shot open. I was sweating, my skin felt like it was on fire. The room was pitch black; the only light was coming off my hair. I looked down in my arms to see a very worried kitten looking back at me. "…Yang? Are you okay?" She asked tiredly, sitting up and putting a hand on my side. I wanted to get up, but I just physically couldn't bring myself to do it. I panted there for a few minutes, looking at her. I was so terrified for a moment that it wasn't a dream.

She helped me sit up and I grabbed her, holding her close. "I thought I'd lost you." I wept quietly, clenching my fists around her pajamas. She held me just as close and sighed. "I'm right here, Yang. You won't lose me." I nodded, tears falling from my eyes now. She stood up and offered me her hand. "Come on, you're burning up. You need a nice cold shower."

I blinked and looked at my skin and hair. My semblance had gone off in my sleep again? That hadn't happened since I lost Summer, and now it was going off again? I sighed and followed her into the bathroom, stripping down and climbing into the shower. Blake turned on some cold water for me and sat outside the curtain. "Do you want to talk about it?"

I shook my head, even if she couldn't see me. "No, it's nothing." Water reacts with my semblance in some weird ways sometimes. Steam was shooting off me like you wouldn't believe. Blake had to go and open the door of the bathroom just to keep it from becoming a sauna in there. "It really doesn't sound like nothing, Yang. Talk to me, I'll still love you regardless."

I sighed and climbed out of the shower, taking the towel she offered and wrapping it around myself. "I…saw some things I never want to see again." I said finally, sitting down on the sink. It took everything I had not to start crying again. Blake pulled me into a hug again, despite the fact she was probably getting soaked from it. "It's okay, what happened?"

I whimpered in her arms. "It was Adam…and he…I couldn't stop him." She gave me a kiss on the cheek and looked me in the eyes. "You don't have to Yang. You told me we would do this together, and I believe that. Okay?"

I shuddered, but nodded slowly. "Okay." That nightmare would haunt me. I wasn't going to let him anywhere near her. It wasn't going to end like it did in my nightmares, not like that.


	13. Elevators

The next morning, I looked terrible. Blake didn't look a ton better, but we were both functioning and alive to the world, so that's good. I snagged myself a purple hoodie from the closet along with my leather jacket. Of course some jeans and my ever stylish boots finished off the outfit perfectly.

Blake went ahead and fished out the yellow hoodie she had originally bought for me along with a black beanie. She felt it'd be cute to match my colors while I matched hers. I don't disagree for a second. "Leaving the bow today, Blake?" I asked, almost surprised. She shrugged and nodded. "It seems like overkill to have that plus a hat. One is probably enough, right?" She looked up at me, almost looking afraid. "Or do you think both would be better? Maybe I should wear both?" I couldn't tell for the life of me why she was so jumpy. "No, the hat's fine. Honestly I don't think you should hide your ears but…okay. Whatever makes you happy, babe."

I said, grabbing a quick drink from the sink before we got ready to leave. She followed me closely. "It's not so much for me, it's more for you." I blinked and raised an eyebrow. "Pardon?" Blake rolled her eyes and groaned. "Yang, who just destroyed Beacon and brought Vale to its knees?" I looked like an idiot as I realized where she was going with this. The White Fang, a Faunus extremist group, just tried to start a war between Atlas and Vale. Seeing a Faunus in public would freak citizens out, and it was something that might be best avoided until this blows over.

That explained why she was still hiding but… "Wait, Blake, what do you mean this is for me?" I pulled the little hat off her ears and they were flat to her head. That meant she was beyond upset, which meant it was my job to handle this. "Babe, I don't care what people think, it's not a big deal for me."

She looked up at me with an almost annoyed expression. "Yang, think about the kind of relationship we have." I blinked and tilted my head. "What, as a couple? Blakey, no one cares about that now! All the people from our generation have either gotten over or they're getting over i-" Then she groaned and I felt like I'd messed up.

What'd I do to mess up though? "Yang, I'm a Faunus. You're a human. People aren't going to like this." She was right. There was a reason why Sun didn't constantly have human girls crawling on him like the rest of his team. He attracted the other Faunus because, well, it was just the social standard. People would scream bestiality and monster at us for the sake of her being a Faunus. I shrugged and gave her back her hat. I wouldn't force her out of hiding if she didn't want to be.

"Blake, I don't care what other people are going to say about us. I don't care what they throw at me, cuz I can just throw it back harder." I smiled, but evidently she didn't find that one very funny. "I won't force you to leave the hat at home, especially with what's happened recently. Just promise me you'll try and come out of your shell?"

She sighed and looked over at the table. Her books were all over the place and I knew she'd much rather just run back and live in them for the rest of her life. It was just easier. It was a world that didn't come with all this heartbreak and death and pain. They always had happy endings, and in the real world those weren't a promise. I'd just have to make hers for her. "Blake, I'm going to make sure you get your happily ever after. I promise." I pulled her close, hands around her waist and kissing her neck. She started sobbing before she turned around and buried her face in my shoulder.

I was so confused; did I say something wrong? Did I do something I shouldn't have? She looked up at me and smiled through her tears. "Thank you so much Yang." Was all she could manage, and I nodded, clinging to her tight.

About an hour passed before Blake had recovered from her crying fit and we finished packing up, jamming our stuff in the suitcases that a Schnee servant had brought them earlier. Blake was the one to answer the door for that. Her and her faunus hearing. Then again if I'd woken up the poor guy probably wouldn't have left in one piece. On the same note, Schnee SERVANTS? No wonder Weiss had trouble getting used to me back at Beacon.

She pulled hers in front of me as we made our way to the elevator, and I took a seat on mine while we waited for it. I started whistling and it opened, filled to the brim. Some people in there I recognized. Scarlet was in there, for one. Apparently he'd sustained some injuries, but he was fine now. Beside him was Sun, who gave us a wave when he looked up and noticed us. It was around this point that I remembered. Sun is a faunus, why didn't he have to hide like Blake? He muscled his way out from the back and Scarlet blindly followed him. "Wha' are you getting out 'ere for?" He asked, brow furrowed. Once he was out he saw me and Blake, evidently being the short one of his team wasn't fun. I'd have to ask Ruby how that felt later. "Oh, hi Yang. Hi Blake."

Scarlet was probably my second favorite out of Sun's team, right behind Sun and followed by Sage. He didn't really try to act sexy like Sun and Neptune, he just kinda stuck out and followed his friends. Because of that, girls ended up flocking to him as well. It just sort of made him the most human of the group, you know? Neptune on the other hand was at the bottom of his team for me. Don't get me wrong, I like Neptune, I really do. Sage is the strong silent type, and Neptune is the guy who never shuts up to compliment him. So basically it was me and Blake all over again.

"Hey Scarlet!" I said, giving him a quick high five. He recoiled just a bit in pain and rubbed his wrist. I thought I'd hurt him for a moment and was about to say something. Did I still not know my own strength with this stupid thing? But instead he just laughed. "Wasn't expecting the uh…the metal there. Sorry 'bout that." Sun smirked and put an arm around his buddy. "Don't worry about it Yang, David's just a total wuss."

Scarlet gave him a look and Blake started laughing. If I couldn't keep her laughing, at least Sun could. All the more reason to keep him around. We all stepped into the next empty elevator together and Sun made note of our outfits. "So judging by pallet swap we have going on here; I'm guessing Yang came clean?" Blake answered first, which actually surprised me. "No, I just needed to borrow a shirt. What are you talking about Sun?"

Monkey boy practically fell over on nothing as he stared at me. His face went completely pale like he'd just shot himself in the foot with Ryu-Bang and Jingu-Bang, and I gave him my best poker face. "Oh…uh…she told me the other day that…her…arm was feeling…" I sat there and watched him struggle for a good minute, and Scarlet stood there absolutely confused. That was when I burst out laughing and Blake followed not long after.

Sun gave a pretty annoyed look and leaned against the corner of the elevator. "Jeez, Blake, you almost gave me a heart attack with that one." He groaned. The door opened and he and Scarlet let us go first. You know, like real gentlemen. Blake and I started walking toward the street while Sun and Scarlet made their way toward the reception desk to get Scarlet checked out of the hospital. "I still 'ave no idea what you're on about." I heard Scarlet say, still horribly confused. Sun just groaned. "I'll explain it to you guys later." That made me respect Sun even more. Despite how silly that talk turned out to be, he hadn't told his teammates. He'd actually kept his promise.


	14. The Estate

Blake and I managed to wave a cab once we were out of the hospital. We're both huntresses, but there was no way I was letting her walk all the way to the Schnee family's estate. Speaking of which, the size of that mansion was almost disgusting. Ruby and I come from a tiny village called Patch. Our house was maybe about the size of Weiss' bathroom. It had to be, because this building put Beacon itself to shame.

I let Blake get out of the cab first, and she was clearly just as overwhelmed as I was. We knew Weiss was capable of taking money baths, but this was just absolutely absurd. Once we retrieved our luggage from the back, I handed the driver the money. "Thanks for getting there so fast." I said, giving him a thumbs up as he drove off. From there it was just a matter of getting up the stairs. That's…a lot of stairs.

We didn't take so much as a step with the suitcases though, because Weiss' servants were there in a flash to take our luggage for us and open the door. Walking into the main foyer, there was a massive staircase that branched into separate directions in front of us. On the left and right were two entryways to different parts of the house. And then I heard Ruby. "Yang and Blake are here!" She squealed, jumping off the staircase and into my arms. It was a lot easier to catch her now that I wasn't on death's door.

I laughed and hugged her before I put her down. "Hey Ruby! How's the place?" Ruby looked around and shrugged.

"Well, If I'm going to be honest? I've gotten lost going to the bathroom. Like, 8 times. Today." Blake smirked and looked around. "It is rather massive, isn't it?" That's when Weiss came into the picture. She'd been trying to keep up with Ruby using her glyphs, but Ruby's semblance was just way too fast for her. She stopped at the staircase, panting. "Hello ladies." She said in-between raspy breaths.

Weiss gestured to the hallway behind her. "Well if you guys would like, Ruby and I were watching some movies in my room. Yang, Winter's training room is always open to you as well." I nodded and gave a light bow. "Thanks Ice Queen." Weiss groaned as we walked up the stairs. "I'm never going to live down that name, am I?" I shook my head to indicate that she definitely wasn't.

Part of me had hoped Ruby would run past us, but she stuck with us like a good guest. She was chatting at Blake about how amazing Weiss' home was. Everything was so much bigger than anything she'd ever seen before, and Weiss took the opportunity to talk to me.

"So, it's official then?" I gave her a look that plainly said 'not in front of Ruby', but she blew it off. "Please Yang, you're her older sister. You know how she gets when she's excited." Now there she had a point, Ruby was going to be oblivious to everything other than Blake until she was done talking. "Yeah, it's official." I said, blushing a bit. Weiss smiled and clapped lightly. "I'm so happy for you two! You have no idea how long I've been waiting for one of you to take an interest in actual romance!" I furrowed my brow at her. "Hey, I like romance…" I said, and Blake smacked my wrist behind her back. "OK, Blake likes romance."

Weiss chuckled and we reached her room. "So what's your plan for telling your sister?" They would be fine so long as they didn't say her name. Ruby could be a little bit oblivious. "I…don't really have one yet." I said with a chuckle. "Well you should probably make one, because she deserves to know." When we walked into Weiss' room, I felt like I was walking into a personal condo. It had its own entry way with a full kitchen, its own bathroom (which, yes, was bigger than my childhood home. I was right), and her enormous bed. Weiss took a seat on it delicately, the TV was running on the wall opposite to it.

Ruby took a running dive at the bed, landing right next to Weiss who then rolled her eyes. She must be getting used to Ruby's hyperactivity because she had entirely given up on correcting her. They were just so damn precious together. Then Weiss opened her big mouth. "So, Yang, how was your hospital stay?"

Blake and I shrugged. "I mean, it was alright. Pretty uneventful overall." Weiss nodded and Ruby flipped over to watch some TV. She just didn't much care for hospital stays or anything. Weiss noticed her and poked the little leader. "Ruby, I think Yang might have something to talk to you about."

I stared at her, completely pale. That bitch. She smirked and me and mouthed 'Don't call me Ice Queen.' Now she totally deserved it. Ruby sat up and Weiss turned off the TV. That must mean this was serious. "OK, what's up Yang?" She looked at me with those big eyes of hers and I sighed. I physically can't lie to her.

"So, you know how I would talk about boys with Weiss back at Beacon?" Ruby thought for a second and nodded. "Yeah, you asked me every now and again what I thought. What about it?" Then she gasped and jumped up. "You met a boy?! What's his name Yang?! Who was it?! Is it Neptune?" I blinked awkwardly. Why would she ever think it was Neptune? That was Weiss' go to guy. I shook my head. "Well, no, not exactly..." Thank god Blake stepped in.

"Well, actually Ruby, she met a girl." She said calmly, leaning on the bedpost. Ruby raised an eyebrow at us like she didn't quite get what we were saying. "We're still talking romantically, right?" I nodded, blushing bright red. Ruby gasped and threw her arms up. "Well why didn't you just say so?! It's about time you noticed Coco hitting on you!"

I couldn't help but look at her a bit weird. "Coco's been hitting on me?!" I looked to Blake and she just shrugged, indicating she hadn't heard anything of the sort from Velvet. Ruby shrugged and played with her fingers. "Well I mean; I've always thought so. I figured you two were pretty similar and would look cute together so…ya know."

I sighed and facepalmed on the spot. Pointless shipping gets you nowhere Ruby. Come on, you have to at least have SOMETHING to base your claims on or you just look silly by the end of it. "No, Ruby, listen. It's Blake." Blake waved awkwardly from her spot next to me, but her smile helped ease the tension. Ruby looked between the two of us for a minute like she had to process what was going on. To be fair, one of her best friends was now in a same-sex relationship with her straight sister. And technically it was interracial too.

After some time to process it in awkward silence, Ruby walked over and gave us a hug. "That's awesome, guys." She said with a smile. I hugged her back and rustled her hair. "Thanks Sis…it means so much to hear you say that." She almost immediately turned to Blake though.

"Oh my gosh, Blake, you're going to absolutely love Yang. She's the greatest big sister ever and she's going to be the best girlfriend ever. I can promise you that right now." I looked over Ruby's should at Weiss who happened to be smiling with her arms crossed. She was right, just like always. Blake laughed and put an arm around me. "She already is, Ruby."


	15. Haunted

I pulled myself up from my bed later that night, it was pitch black and Blake was already gone from my side. I figured maybe she'd gone to the bathroom, or maybe she wanted something to drink. I wasn't going to police her about this. I picked my scroll off the nightstand and flipped it open. Blake had at least sent me something, so I opened it out of curiosity.

"Save her."

I blinked and reread it as many times as it took. I was still tired and was trying to process exactly what the text was referring to. I was halfway asking when I got another one, this one was from Ruby.

"Don't you care about us?"

My eyes widened and I tried to message her back, to find out what was going on. Then Weiss sent me another message. It hurt, but I opened it.

"You don't change. You're just as useless as ever."

I stood up and charged out of the guest room Blake and I were using. I checked Ruby's room and she was gone. Weiss? Of course she was missing, but at least there was something there. A sliced curtain and a broken sliding door to the balcony. I stepped out over the glass, climbing onto the railing of the balcony. "Blake?! Ruby?! Weiss?! Where are you?" That's when I heard Blake screaming in pain, and that's when I knew it was serious. I looked to my wrists but…my weapon was still in my luggage. I almost went to get them when I heard Ruby. That was more than enough to drive me down.

I landed in the middle of Weiss' backyard. Jeez this thing was bigger than I expected. I looked around as quickly as I could for something I could use as a weapon. Myrtenaster, Crescent Rose, the Stinger, anything that could at least tell me there was a struggle. Something to tell me they were fighting, a trail maybe. Then I remembered my arm was my weapon now, and the Ember Celica on my right arm fired up on the spot for me. I was going to find my friends one way or another.

After a bit of running and dealing with the Schnee's stupid hedge maze, I busted into an old shed on the far end. They were supposed to be keeping gardening tools here, but it wasn't quite so innocent anymore. I forced my way in to find my team, all restrained. Blake was on the ground, crying. She was the closest to me, and I could tell it was on purpose. The three had been tortured, Weiss to the point of unconsciousness as a fresh scar bled on her right eye. Ruby's mouth was covered in duct tape and some of her hair was missing where it had been cut out forcefully, blood repainting the absence of her black and red hair. Blake might have been the most horrifying of all. Not because I love her, not just because I love her, but because of her ears. They'd been torn off, and the wounds were cauterized.

I was crying as I cut them all loose, trying to find a way out. It was the most horrifying thing I'd ever seen in my life and I just needed to find them help. Then I heard the door close behind me. "You thought I was going to let you take her from me?" I turned around slowly and Adam was there. Adam was always there. He had the Stinger in his hands, looking it over absentmindedly. "You think you can replace what I offered her?" He chuckled and shattered it over his knee. "No…you can't. If I can't have her, you sure as hell can't. And she damn sure doesn't deserve to be dignified as a Faunus."

That's when I snapped, I sprang forward screaming, just like last time. My gauntlet connected with his jaw and he went straight through the wall of the shed. But he just got up, he just laughed at me, treated me like nothing more than a child. "If that's the best you can do; no wonder you can't protect them." I grabbed him by the shirt collar and started firing punch after punch into his stupid face, shot after shot, shotgun blast after shotgun blast, and he just laughed. His aura was so strong; I just couldn't dent him.

Then he caught my punch and gave me a smile. He bent my fist back and forced me to my knees as he stood up. "Welcome to the real world, Yang." He roared in rage and gave me a knee to the gut, knocking me to the ground. "The real world is dark." He stomped on my elbow, shattering it and forcing me to scream in mind numbing pain. "The real world is PAINFUL." He crushed my robot arm under his boot effortlessly. "The real world is tired of overbearing mothers like you, and just wants you to keel over and die already!" He stomped out both my knees. I stared up at him in fear. Absolute horror, really. He turned his head just a bit to look at my friends. My hair burned as rage replaced fear, and he put his boot over my face. "This is the wakeup call, kid." He raised his boot up. "Ring…Ring." And he brought it down.

I sat up straight in my bed, gasping for air. I was sweating, and the room was pitch black. The only light source was my own hair, thanks to my semblance. I forced myself to my feet, stumbling out onto the balcony. The cold winter air hit my blazing skin, and that was my first feeling of relief all night. Steam shot off me like a sauna and I sat in the middle of the balcony, crying. I had to come to facts.

Yang Xiao Long, someone who everyone else was so dependent on, the girl who was never afraid of anything, was absolutely terrified. I was terrified of Adam Taurus.


	16. Clarity

I didn't tell Blake what had happened last night with my nightmares. How could I? The scene I'd dreamt up was just so terrifying, I could never even try to tell Ruby or Blake what had happened. It was just…horrible. Then I realized what I could do. Blake jumped in the shower early, and I knocked on the door. "Hey, Blake, I'm going down to get some breakfast. Do you want me to save you anything?"

I heard her just barely over the water, she's just so quiet all the time. "Oh, save me some milk and pancakes, Yang!" She called out happily. I smiled. "Will do babe! Love you!" With that I walked out of the room and down the hall. First thing's first. Ruby. I poked my head in her room and, sure enough, she was still curled up under her covers sound asleep. With any luck she would stay dead to the world like that for the next few hours, like usual.

I poked my head into Weiss' room next. I didn't get a hair dryer thrown at my face so that meant one of two things. Either she was still asleep, or she wasn't in the room at the time. It looked like it was lucky door number 2. I snuck past Ruby's room again and hopped down the stairs, hanging a right into the dining room. That's where Weiss was. She had a newspaper and a full breakfast laid out for the team. I'd say it was generous of her, but let's be honest, her servants made that whole thing. Not that I didn't appreciate it, I'm just being realistic.

She lowered the paper and smiled at me. "Good morning Ya-" She stopped mid-sentence when she saw the look on my face. "Oh my Dust, Yang you look terrible." I nodded and sat down, shrugging. "Oh, you think?" I groaned, rubbing my tired eyes. She sighed and sat up. "OK, tell guidance counsellor Weiss what could possibly be wrong now." She was speaking more as a demand than a question. She wasn't asking what was wrong, she was demanding to know. "You already have Blake, Ruby is overjoyed for the both of you, other than getting your arm back I don't see what we can give yo-"

"Adam Taurus." I said, my face still in my hands. Weiss blinked in surprise and folded her hands with a sigh. "OK. That'll do it, what's on your mind Yang?" I shook my head and buried my face in my arms. "I keep having these nightmares of him. He's stalking and torturing everyone I love. First it was just Blake, then he brought you and Ruby into it, and now he's trying to kill us all." Weiss sat silently for a moment. "Yang, I understand this is probably hard for you but…have you talked to Blake about this?"

I snapped my head up to look at her. "Are you insane?! I have to be strong for both of us, if I tell her how afraid of that psycho I am, do you realize what that could do to her mentally?" I shuddered at the thought. I wanted to curl up in a ball in the nearest corner and just die like Adam had been screaming at me to. "The point of being strong is to be strong enough to ask for help."

I jumped about a foot in the air and turned around. It wasn't Blake that I'd heard, and it definitely wasn't Ruby…so who? Then the older of the Schnee heiresses stepped into the dining room. "Good morning, Ms. Xiao Long. I wasn't aware you'd be staying with us." I looked to Weiss and she was busy trying to fix her hair to look presentable. Why was she so hell bent to look presentable to her own sister? "I'm sorry Winter, Mother and Father are still out of the city for a few weeks so I thought that maybe it would-" Winter silenced her with a pat on the back. "I'm not upset Weiss." She said calmly, taking a seat next to her. "They're your teammates and they need a roof over their heads and a warm meal in front of them. That's all there is to it."

Weiss nodded and gave up on her hair, letting Winter tie her ponytail for her. I smiled as I watched them and saw an almost perfect parallel between me and Ruby. A little sister doing things without thinking, and an older sister just trying to take care of her, trying to do what was best. I hated Winter a lot less after that. Winter snatched the hair tie out of Weiss' mouth and finished off the ponytail perfectly, better than Weiss had ever done on her own. She sat there blushing and straightening it now. "Thank you Winter…" She finally groaned.

Winter then turned to me, hands folded. All business. "From the sound of it, you and your partner are in a bit of trouble." She said simply, watching my expressions. I'd either have to put on a poker face or come clean now, I wasn't ready to do either. "Something on your mind?"

I looked at my arm and held it up. The prosthetic. "This is the work of someone named Adam Taurus. He's the current leader of the White Fang." I made a glance toward Weiss who was frantically gesturing for me not to say too much. Maybe Winter still held those classic Schnee prejudices? That would be grand. Winter simply nodded. "I'm familiar with Adam Taurus. I've fought him once or twice, in fact."

I was dumbfounded. Winter was good enough to fight Adam? "How? I never even made a dent…" Winter couldn't hold in a small laugh. "Yang, I don't know why you won't get it through your head. You are a huntress in training. I'm 5 years older than you. I have a lot more experience, better training, and honestly a semblance more suited to do battle with that degenerate." I couldn't help but wince at the term degenerate. Blake wasn't going to like Winter much.

"…He keeps chasing down Blake. She left him and…he wants her back." Winter sat quietly, taking that in and everything that it implied. I searched her eyes for any level of emotion, but I saw almost nothing. Must be that Atlesian military training. "And I keep having nightmares…where he hurts everyone I love." Winter nodded slowly. "So long as Blake is truly against the White Fang, she is welcome here." She said, almost grudgingly. Weiss' eyes opened wide as she looked at her sister. "You knew about that?!"

The older Schnee rolled her eyes. "Weiss, I just told you I've fought with Adam before. Who followed him around for all those years do you think?" I felt my fists clench and my skin grow hot. She had better not be implying what I thought she was implying. "Your friend was a White Fang member until recently, that much I already knew. The only thing I didn't know of was the matter of their intimacy."

I stood up and punched the table, ready to jump across it at Winter if I had to. "There was nothing intimate about them!" I screamed. My hair shot up into flames around me and my eyes glowed red like a Grimm. "He's a disgusting, worthless, monster of a Faunus who doesn't deserve the title! And if I ever get the chance I'll rip his horns off his stupid head and shove them straight up his ass!" I was panting, I was beyond the point of no return, despite Weiss trying to shut me up from the other side of the table. "My Blake was NEVER the monster, she wanted equality! But scumbags like your family just refused to give it to her, and you drove them too far!" I realized what I was saying around that point and forced myself to sit down. Winter had simply watched and I heard a familiar voice behind me.

"There was nothing intimate about my relationship with Adam." I spun around and saw Blake. Her eyes were red and covered in tears. "Do you know why I despise the White Fang? Because they took a simple matter of racism, something as trivial as discrimination, and turned it into a war. We tried with words, and it just wasn't working. We needed time, and Adam refused to give it to us. He murdered his mentor and took his place."

I stood up to try and comfort her, but she shrugged me away, slamming her hands on the table and staring Winter in the eye. "He turned into a monster, and he turned our protests into full scale assaults. Violence became the answer to the most trivial of matters, and that included our relationship." I wasn't sure how much more of this I wanted to hear and I put a hand on her shoulder. "Blake, it's okay. No one is blaming y-"

"And do you know what the worst part of it was?! The fact that he turned on such short notice. The fact that he'd lost his mind in an instant, and I was afraid it could happen to anyone. I was afraid that we really were the monsters than humanity was making us out to be." She broke down and clung to my shoulder. I gave Winter a look and she nodded, closing her eyes as she took in all this information. "I understand, Ms. Belladonna. You are free to enter and leave my home as you wish, as is your team." She stood to leave, stopping at the entryway one last time. "And for what it's worth, I'm sorry for your complications. Truly I am." And with that, she was gone.

I tried to sit Blake down, but she needed me right now. She needed to know I would stay there with her. I looked to Weiss to try and give any apology I could through eye contact, but she was wiping away tears of her own. She must have felt horrible about this turn of events. But the most interesting emotion I felt that morning was pride. I was so proud of Blake. Not only did she stand up to someone so much stronger than her, but she did it without her bow. She wore her ears with pride, and they were the most perfect things I'd ever laid my eyes on.


	17. Beacon Ball

Some days, Ruby is more exhausting than the nightmares. I groaned when I woke up with Ruby sitting directly on my stomach. "Yaaaaaang!" That was a call I was oh so familiar with after about 12 years of it. I looked up at her groggily. "C'mon Yaaaaaaang! Weiss turned her back yard into a Beacon Ball court!" That was enough to get my eyes wide open.

I grabbed Ruby by her hood with my right hand and dragged her off me, sitting up and looking around. Blake had evidently long since been up, back into a purple hoodie rather than the yukata she'd gone to sleep in. Weiss wore likely the most expensive white and blue patterned sweater I'd ever seen in my life, complete with the Schnee family crest on the back. Ya know, just in case you didn't know she lived in a house made of money. Ruby had ditched her combat skirt and was in a black sweater and jeans…and of course her hood. She'd never do anything without it, ever since Summer gave it to her.

I sat up and walked to the bathroom. "OK, fine. I'll meet you guys out there." I should probably explain Beacon Ball rather than the shower I took, huh? You know it was a cold one anyway. Beacon Ball was a game that me, Ruby and Sun came up with during last semester. Basically you need 3 people or 3 teams to play, so it was RWBY vs JNPR vs SSSN for the grand championship! Any weapons, dust, and semblances are allowed! All three teams would fight for the ball using any tricks they had access to. If you scored on a team's goal, you gain a point and that team loses a point, and if you sent someone flying with the ball…well you didn't get any points but that was the fun part of the game!

Once I got out of the shower and threw on some yellow, I took a quick jog down the stairs and out the back door, stopping on the balcony that lead out to the garden. Sure enough, Weiss had set up the goal lines, a huge centerpiece, and had managed to get herself her very own Beacon Ball. So…basically a giant white dodgeball with some metal lining it. No wonder JNPR always seemed to be the hardest to beat at this game. Looking back now, it was a bit of an unfair advantage.

I sat myself on the balcony and pulled out my scroll, giving them the thumbs up. I had to referee the first match since I'd woken up so late, so I'd have to watch their aura levels. Ruby transformed Crescent Rose into its scythe form and Blake prepared the ribbon of her new Stinger. Weiss just stood there with Myrtenaster.

I didn't buy it for a second, Weiss was the absolute best goalie to ever play Beacon Ball, she wasn't going to just stand there. Instead of her usual ice walls and glyph barricades though, she created two gigantic ones with arms sprouting from them. Ruby looked up at them and groaned. "Weiss! No fair, me and Blake don't have any teammates, why do you get one?!" Weiss gave her a snarky look and laughed. "It's my SEMBLANCE, Ruby. All is fair in Beacon Ball~"

I smirked and hit a button on my scroll, ringing out a whistle. Ruby was easily the first to the ball, knocking it high up into the air before using Crescent Rose to propel herself up. From there she smashed it right toward Weiss's goal. "Then I'm taking you right out of the competition, Snow Angel!"

Weiss smiled and held up a finger, positioning Myrtenaster to create one of her black glyphs. She caught the ball easily and looked between Ruby and Blake, who had both frozen. They knew the longer she held that thing, the more dangerous it was going to get to their goals. Blake created about a dozen shadow clones, all standing in front of her goal. If Weiss threw it there, she might get lucky, or Blake might block it and catch it in her ribbon.

I saw her eyes turn to focus on Ruby before launching it, drawing a sigh of relief from Blake as her clones disappeared and she stretched out her ribs. That scar from Adam was still causing her problems, that's all I could assume. Ruby used her semblance to dash in front of the ball and bat it back toward Blake with the flat edge of Crescent Rose. "FOUR!"

The ball went straight through Blake's head, evidently she'd swapped places with one of her clones and moved back, kicking the ball to the ground and letting her bounce it there for a few seconds as she regained her bearings. Weiss tried to steal it with her glyphs but Blake was way too fast for her and started sprinting toward her goal.

The three of them went on like that for ages, and I watched to study their moves. I'd be in the game soon enough, and I was gonna dominate, just like back home. I wasn't brought out of my trance until I felt a hand on my shoulder and looked up. Winter had evidently come out to see what all the commotion was about. "So this is the game you came up with that Weiss was so ecstatic about?"

I nodded. "Yeah, this is it, and she's really good at it." That reminded me to check my scroll for their aura levels. Blake was at about 68%, significantly lower than Weiss' 92% and Ruby's 94%. Winter must have been looking over my shoulder. "Is Blake alright? Her aura is dropping pretty quickly out there." I nodded, blowing it off. "Yeah, she's fine. Her clones take up a lot more aura than our semblances, that's all." That had to be it. The only other explanation would have been her injuries, but she seemed strong enough out there that I wasn't concerned about them.

Winter sat next to me, watching them play. She smirked when Weiss managed to hit Blake with the ball after a swift time dilation glyph. I couldn't blame her, that was pretty sneaky. "That reminds me, thank you for taking an interest in my younger sister, Yang." I looked up at her, a bit surprised. Ruby had taken a lot more interest in Weiss than I had. "What do you mean?"

Winter gestured out toward the scene in front of us. "All of this. This is why she wanted to go to Beacon rather than the military. She wanted to make friends like you." I was pretty shocked to hear that, honestly. I knew Weiss had to fight her parents to go to Beacon, but I didn't know why. I wasn't aware that it was out of sheer loneliness. I mean, if all you've got to look forward to is Ice Queen 2.0 over here, then you're gonna be bored out of your mind most days.

"You know; I never could be the sister she needed." She said with a sigh. I hadn't taken my gaze off Winter for a while. "She was always so…different from most of us. What came naturally to me was always a struggle for her, while my difficulty with empathy was something Weiss naturally possessed. It was…an odd dynamic." I shrugged and looked back down at Ruby, who was using her speed to close in on Weiss. She could have gone for Blake, but Ruby was smart. She knew those giant arms weren't as fast as Weiss would want them to be, and that meant she could dunk the ball right into the goal. "GOOOOOAAAAAALLLLLLLL~" She screamed out, running in circles in the middle of the arena, drawing a laugh from Blake out on the field. I checked my scroll. 40% on Blake's aura. She was going to have to lay off the clones pretty soon, or she'd be in some bad shape out there.

"You seem to have done well with your sister, though." Winter noted, and I smiled. "Yeah, Ruby's great. She's kind, energetic, smart…" Just as I said that, Weiss created one of her ice pillars and Ruby ran straight into it, slumping to the floor. "…OK, we'll stop at energetic for now." That was the first laugh I'd ever shared with Winter, and it was a nice one.

"Good luck out there Yang, Ruby looks like some tough competition." I stood up, ready to take Weiss's spot on the field. "I'm tougher~" I said, cracking my fists. Have you ever been hit in the face by a dodgeball thrown by a robotic arm that was super charged by my semblance? It's a pretty bad time.


	18. An Uneventful Evening

With Beacon Ball over, the whole team was taking some time to relax. Blake had actually managed to win by being the most neutral party involved. Because she didn't make any enemies, no one went for her as hard as the others, so she just made one goal and managed to win it all. Go figure. We were in Weiss' living room and watching a few movies, like the Deathstalker King for one. It was pretty bad. I looked around at the other girls, I was on the far right with my arm around Blake. Then Weiss, then Ruby. Ruby was watching the film a bit more quietly than the rest of us. "This movie has the worst effects ever…" She said finally, raising an eyebrow.

Blake laughed and cuddled closer to me, so I leaned my head against hers. "I'm not gonna lie, it's…pretty bad." She seemed relatively okay with it though. I had her so I didn't care in the slightest. Weiss on the other hand could only seem to exhibit irritation, pointing out every single plot hole she could find. "This is NOT how you would kill a Deathstalker!" She shouted, evidently having enough of what was going on.

Blake smiled. "Weiss, I'm not sure what you were expecting when you picked this movie, this studio is awful. It always is." Weiss simply folded her arms defensively. "Well how was I supposed to know?! It's not like I watch movies all day!" I sighed and pointed at the player. "So who wants to go swap the disk out?"

That one got a huge groan from the entire team, no one was willing to move and Blake nuzzled closer to me, so you can bet I wasn't even about to stand up. I laughed. "Then suck it up and watch it."

Once we'd settled in a bit more, I started to feel some pain in my side. I blinked and winced a bit, looking down. "What the fu-" I looked down and saw Blake with her hands out, poking against my side. "Are you kneading me?" I asked her, almost in disbelief. It was beyond cute. She looked back up at me once I noticed, blushing profusely. "…Sorry." She mumbled, curling back up into a ball. I couldn't help but laugh and hug her closely, giving her little ears a kiss. I love all of those little kitty habits of hers.


	19. A Bit of Coaxing

The next day had come and gone with a little to no eventfulness to it. I was getting used to the arm entirely now, shaking hands with people and fist bumping without breaking a few bones in their hand. It was pretty cool. My life was slowing down a lot and, despite what I would have told you a semester ago, I was totally okay with it. I didn't have to go hunting thrills just to have a reason to keep fighting, I had someone who was more than enough of a reason. I had someone I could actually call my own.

Speaking of that someone, Blake was almost done recovering as well, so Weiss decided it was time for us to spend a night out. Ruby wasn't overjoyed by the idea of being out in public, but I reminded her this was something I'd do all the time in Vale. Going out to clubs, seeing the sights, it was just a mindless good time. That was enough to coax her out. Blake, however, was going to be a bit more difficult.

"Babe, come on, the others are all coming!" I sounded like a whiney little kid, following her around from room to room. She was walking away from me with her book in hand, no doubt trying to read and tune me out.

"You know that's just not my style, Yang. I don't like to be out with people watching me." Her ears were flattened to her head and I sighed. I'd gotten her to stop wearing her bow around the team, but she was still perfectly content at just that. Here at the estate she could train, eat, sleep, and read before going on missions. Then she could come back here. That's all she wanted in the world and it was starting to worry me.

"Blaaaaaaaaaake." I flopped myself onto her back, draping my arms over her shoulders. That got her blushing. "Come onnnnnnn, I promise we'll have loads of fun. Just you, me, Ruby and Weiss. We don't know anyone around here and we might as well enjoy it, right?" Blake looked over her shoulder at me.

"So what? We're here on medical leave for a few months, can't we just enjoy the recovery? I mean…SSSN, CFVY, JNPR, CRDL…all of them are around the city somewhere. What if we run into them?" I couldn't believe what I was hearing. Blake was actually afraid of embarrassing herself in front of other people. In a freaking CLUB no less! No one takes what happens there seriously!

Weiss was sitting on her couch, going through her scroll for a bit. We'd passed her about 4 times while I tried to get Blake's attention and she ran away from me. Evidently she'd gotten tired of it, because she'd moved the couch to block the exit to the room. Probably with her glyphs. "Yang I think that maybe we should ease Blake into our tastes a bit more slowly." She said, not once looking up from her scroll.

I looked at her dumbfounded. Blake just looked so much more relieved. "Thank you Weiss." She said with a sigh, sitting down on the now misplaced couch. I groaned and flopped down between the two. "OK Snow Angel, what do you suggest?"

Weiss' eyes narrowed. "First Ruby, now you. Is this just a replacement for that stupid Ice Queen name?" I shrugged and Blake smirked. "That's entirely possible, but I won't confirm or deny such scandalous accusations." I said, crossing my arms. That only seemed to annoy her more.

"Do you even know what scandalous means?!" She said, standing up and stomping a high heel on the ground. I just shrugged. "I will not confirm or deny such-" And then I got hit in the face with a pillow, causing Weiss to try and compose herself. She cleared her throat and put her hands behind her back. "I propose that I take the three of you on a shopping spree." She said, smiling as if she'd just suggested the most Remnant-shattering idea imaginable.

Blake and I looked at each other. She shrugged, so I figured I'd go with it for now. I got a general idea of what was going on here. Weiss didn't have any friends growing up, so she never got to experience her girly shopping sprees with friends. I couldn't help but feel a bit sorry for her. "If you can get Ruby on board, sure." I said, kicking back on my couch cushion. "Just be aware, she really isn't very much of a shopper.

Weiss smirked and folded her hands together. "Oh I have my plans for her." She said, creating a glyph on the floor beneath the couch, causing it to shoot across the room back to where it belonged. Unfortunately, Blake and I weren't ready for that. She found herself flipped onto her back, and I was laying on the ground. I'd gone down face first and groaned as I heard Weiss leave. It was a pretty distinctive sound, heals clicking on the hardwood floor like that.

I forced myself back up on my elbows and looked at Blake. She'd righted herself and was still laughing at me on the ground. "Oh real cute kitty cat." I said, grabbing her leg and yanking her down on the floor with me. We rolled around for a few minutes before I managed to pin her down, panting. I realized the situation I'd put myself in and blushed, giving a nervous laugh before she reached her head up and kissed me.

We didn't break apart until I heard Ruby running down the hallway on the floor above us, followed by those heels clicking after her. "RUBY ROSE, YOU ARE GOING TO GO SHOPPING WITH US IF IT'S THE LAST THING I DO!" I rolled off of Blake and started laughing.

"And now we wait for the screams of agony to signify Weiss has resorted to torture?" She asked, looking across the floor at me. What do you know, maybe Blake can be funny sometimes too.


	20. Limousines and Ice Queens

I hadn't been shopping in about 3 years. Sure, I went to the mall and dicked around for a while. Every now and again I'd go to a store and get some new shirts, but actual SHOPPING? That isn't something I do. And evidently it wasn't something Ruby did either. She was leaned up against the door in the backseat of Weiss' limo, almost like she was trying to figure out what the best moment to jump out and make a break for it would be. Blake and I were sitting side by side in the middle, and Weiss was on the far side working with a small bar.

"I can't believe I got roped into this…" Was one of the few things I heard Ruby grumbling next to me, so I put an arm around her and squished her face against me. "Oh come on sis~, it'll be soooooooooo much fun! Maybe Weiss can take you to a salon and get your hair and nails done!" That was where she drew the line and dropped the window, trying to fling herself out. "FREEDOM!" I grabbed her hood and dragged her back in, putting up the window.

I gestured up at the driver. "Hey! Child locks please!" I heard the window click and waved up at him. "Thank you!" I let go of Ruby and let her struggle with the door, charging it and wailing on it until she finally gave up. Weiss rolled her eyes and passed me the drink I'd been waiting for. Strawberry Sunrise, my absolute favorite. And the crazy thing? I hadn't had one since I got to Atlas, it's been way too long old friend of mine.

Blake had been given some tea and Weiss was enjoying some kind of fancy billion-dollar brand of ice water. I'm just going to sit back and accept that I'll never understand her at this point. "Ruby, would you like anything?" Weiss said, still at the bar by the door. Ruby groaned and got up, begrudgingly sitting herself on the seat. "Just…some kinda juice or something. I dunno."

Weiss passed her a redish-purple drink and she sipped it cautiously. She tasted it, blinked, and started drinking it faster. "This is actually really good." She said in-between sips. Weiss nodded, folding her arms and sitting herself back down. I kicked my feet up and Blake leaned her head on my shoulder, looking at Weiss. "Thanks for doing all of this for us." She said, licking her lips of her now finished tea.

Weiss dipped her head and smiled. "Of course, you guys are my friends. I'd do anything for you!"

We chilled for the rest of the ride, talking about different things. Weiss tried to talk to me about boys for a little while, which turned out to be humorous. "So, Yang, can I still talk guys with you or is that a no?" I blew it off and laughed. "Weiss, come on. I'm not gay." I felt a shift next to me and I looked down at piercing yellow eyes. "Except for you, Blake. I'm super gay for you." I gave her a kiss on the nose and she sighed, burying her face in my side. That seemed to get my point across.

When we finally reached our destination, Weiss was instantly out of the car, holding the door for the rest of us. Blake and I piled out but Ruby stayed behind. "Guys, I got the best idea in the history of ideas, okay?" I put my hands on my hips and sighed. "This is gonna be good." I told Blake, and she crossed her own arms.

"OK, what if, AND I'M JUST SPITBALLING HERE…what if I stay with the juice and the limo and make sure no one takes it…and you guys all go do your girly shopping thing!" She had to know we wouldn't actually let her get away with that. Weiss climbed into the limo and dragged her out by her hair. "Don't be ridiculous Ruby! This is perfectly normal and would make for an excellent teambuilding exercise." Ruby squirmed and fought against her. "Ow! Weiss! That's my hair! At least use the hood, come on!"

We took a step toward the mall before Blake grabbed my arm hard. "We have to go back. Now." I turned to look at her along with the others. Weiss was, understandably, a little bit miffed. "What do you mean we have to go back? We just got here!" Ruby, unlike Weiss, was just about halfway back to the limo. "Oh guys I mean…if Blake thinks we should go back she's pretty smart. I bet the Beacon Ball court has leaves on it or something, should probably go clean that up, right?" I grabbed her hood as she walked by me and she tilted backward before falling onto the ground, defeated.

Blake removed her hands for a moment, showing us her ears. "I didn't bring my bow or my hat! We have to go back and get them!" Weiss's gaze softened and I turned to look at her. I really wasn't sure what to say, but I'd give it a shot. "Blake, you didn't bring them because you're finally getting confidence in yourself. You don't have to hide like that!" She started to remove her hands, but was still shrinking back in fear of the enormous shopping complex.

Weiss stepped up, hugging Blake. Not going to lie, I wanted that hug. "Blake, it's fine. Give it a shot, and if it's really that much of an issue I'll buy you a brand new hat. Okay?" She sighed and hugged Weiss back, looking between the two of us. "You promise, right?"

I stood up straight and gave a little salute. "Beowolf Scout's honor!" We started walking toward the mall, I had my arm around Blake again as we left. "Beowolf Scout? That's as far as you got?" I turned to Weiss and rolled my eyes at her. "What? I got kicked out for starting a fight. I don't have the attention span for Nevermore scout anyway…" I realized no one had a hand on Ruby and snagged her hood, passing her over to Weiss to drag around. "Nice try baby sis."


	21. Ribbons, Racism and Shoulder Bags

Shopping. Shopping was a bizarre sensation, especially when you have a virtually limitless amount of money. Weiss had passed Blake and I one of her credit cards, saying we should go out and enjoy ourselves. She'd be taking Ruby with her. I waved to them as Weiss dragged Ruby toward a rather expensive looking boutique. "Come on Ruby…" She grunted, gripping the back of her hood with both hands. Ruby flailed in my direction. "DON'T LEAVE ME WITH HER!"

I just stood there, laughing. The only appropriate response for a truly evil older sister. I turned and started walking with Blake, snatching up her hand as we went. I stopped us in front of a small directory. "Well let's see…we can go to…" I started listing off names like Grimm Trimmings (I was sure she would love that one), The Atlas Store (obviously there was one, we were in Atlas after all), I offered her a drink from StarDust, and she just wouldn't bite.

I looked at her and was about to ask what was bothering her, but then I realized she was looking around and listening to everyone with those cat ears of hers. I strained myself to try and hear what they were saying, and naturally there was all the racism ever. Welcome to Atlas, the capital of judgmental science nerds. Blake turned bright red and nudged my side. "Yang, can I please go get a hat now? Or at least a new bow?"

I sighed and nodded. I wanted her to be a bit more outgoing, but not like this. Nothing could get me to put her through all of that for no reason. I pulled her close to me and we started walking down the hallways of the mall, looking for one of the accessory shops I'd seen the name of. That walk seemed to go for ages, and I could only imagine how much worse it was for Blake. She could hear all of this, at least more than I could.

We walked ourselves into a gigantic accessory boutique, one called Schneessesories. I'll give you three guesses who owns it. Blake immediately made her way off to a rotating display filled with different ribbons. Her eyes were wide as she looked at all the intricate designs. She looked like a kid on Christmas morning, but to be fair any one of these would put her plain little black bow to shame. Now she just had to pick one.

We stood there for a while, and for once Blake got to tune everyone else out and just enjoy some shopping. That was important to me. After some debating, she found a cute little black and yellow striped one, holding it up to show me. "Yang, look how cute this one is." She gasped, and I giggled, looking it over. The material was so smooth and nice to touch, and the price tag mirrored that. Luckily we had a nice discount from the owners of the store.

When Blake and I went up to the register though, it was pretty clear what they thought of us. The girl at the register gave us a raised eyebrow, scanning the ribbon and telling us the absurd pricetag. I was about 20% sure that the tax they slapped on that thing was illegal. I passed her the card Weiss had given us. Hard white and blue plastic, emblazoned with the Schnee family crest. She looked at the card for quite a while, then she glared at Blake. I really didn't like where this was going. "Is there a problem?" I asked through gritted teeth. Blake gripped my hand tighter, and I thanked my lucky stars she was on my left. My right hand would probably be crushing her right now.

She slid the card behind her register, crossing her arms. There was definitely a problem. "Well, for starters, I'd bet all the money in this register you aren't a Schnee." It was a bit bizarre, I was the one who handed her the cards, and yet she was staring at Blake's ears more than anything. I'd never seen so much hatred in one person's eyes, and Blake refused to meet her gaze.

"Weiss is our friend; she gave us the card." I could feel my eyes turning red in my rage. I could feel the heat radiating off me, but this clerk really didn't seem to care. "Tell you what, bring her back here and I might be inclined to believe a Faunus and her little taboo love interest. Mkay?" That was where I drew the line. The gauntlet on my right arm activated and I was ready to punch her. Then Blake started dragging me out of the store. "Fine, we didn't want to buy anything here anyway." She said through her tears. I was so ready to sprint back into that store and beat the hell out of that clerk, but the last thing I needed was more bad publicity for the Beacon kids…so I'd just have to follow Blake for now.

I snatched my scroll out of my pocket and texted Weiss immediately. "Hey, your little cashier at Scheesessories needs to get a talk from you. She accused Blake of stealing your credit card because she's a Faunus." I shook my head and started walking with Blake again, a hand around her shoulder. The next person who talked shit to her was going to get my robotic fist shoved straight up their ass.

Blake stopped me outside of Grimm Trimmings, I'd thought maybe that would be more her style. "Yang…maybe we should just go back to Weiss' place. This was probably a really bad idea." I shook my head and held her shoulders. "No, no Blake. Listen, just because one bitch with a minimum wage job is going to talk down to you does not make this a bad idea. You shouldn't let it bother you that they hate you, especially when it's something as trivial as how much cuter your ears are than hers." She blushed and shrugged, I was at least starting to make her feel better, but it wasn't doing much. "…OK, we can go back. We'll pick up a drink from StarDust and wait for Weiss and Ruby in the limo, okay?" Blake nodded and we turned around to leave when we heard a familiar voice behind us. "Blake! Yang! Hi!" That distinct accent could only be one person I knew.

I checked over my shoulder and sure enough, Velvet Scarlatina was running up waving. I sighed, one of Blake's friends and another Faunus. Blake heard Velvet and quickly wiped her eyes, turning around. "Oh, hey Velvet." She said, putting on her best smile. Trailing a bit further behind Velvet was her best friend and team leader, Coco Adel. Evidently the two had just come out of Grimm Trimmings and Coco was carrying a few dozen bags for herself. When she saw me, she lowered her glasses, a hand on her hip. "Sup Yang?" I shrugged and let Blake take some time to talk to Velvet, taking Coco off to the side and explaining what had happened.

To put it bluntly, Coco looked appalled. Then again though, one of her best friends was a Faunus as well, so it was a pretty fair reaction. "So they think she robbed Weiss?" I nodded and she gripped her handbag lightly. I knew a lot better than most people when it came to pissing off Coco, especially when she had that bag on her. It didn't just hold her money and some make up, it had a chain gun that would make anyone look like they were compensating for something. "Give me, like, twelve seconds." She said, starting in a stride toward the Schnee shop. I grabbed her by the bag strap and pulled her back.

"Coco are you insane?! If we unleash hell in there, Beacon will look so much worse." She dismissed what I'd told her almost instantly. "Tsh…that's unforgivable. Especially when Weiss was kind enough to pay for you guys." I shook my head at her. "Way to go in there and make Blake and Velvet look like White Fang spies then, seeking out inequality." That stopped her. She turned and looked at me, putting her sunglasses away in her purse. "Fine. If Weiss doesn't do something about her though, I will."

I pulled out my scroll and showed Coco the message Weiss had sent back. She had several choice words for when she'd go for her credit card. "I don't think that's going to be an issue." Coco just smirked and gestured toward Grimm Trimmings. "Good. Come on, I think Blake will like this store a lot better."

We walked back into earshot of Velvet and Blake, they were talking about Blake's new stinger and evidently she'd told Velvet about us, because she almost jumped a foot in the air when she saw me. "Oh, Yang I'm so happy for you two!" I blushed a bit and scratched my hair. "Heh…thanks Velvet." Coco looked at me, and I shrugged. "I…should probably mention Blake and I are together now. Like…super homo friends together."

Coco smirked at my definition of our relationship and started leading us into the shop. "Hot damn Yang. People might call you hot headed, but you have a lot more patience than I do." When we looked around inside, this looked like Blake's dream come true. Her and Velvet had gone off to look at the ribbons and hats, leaving me and Coco to go through the clothing section.

I'd found a few shirts I liked, both for me and maybe as a gift to Blake. When I reached for my wallet I realized Weiss was my ticket to paying and cursed under my breath. Coco looked at me from across the room and laughed. "Chill Muzzleflash, this one's on me." She chucked me a huge wad of notes and I looked at her in disbelief. "…Coco I can't take this."

She shook her head. "Yeah, you kinda can. The Schnee aren't the only rich family on Remnant. Besides, consider it a thank you for helping me prove to Yatsu and Fox that I didn't go crazy during the tournament." I gave her a fist bump, I honestly could have told her the exact same thing, but with all of Remnant.

When I went up with Blake to pay for the stuff we'd gotten, I was a little bit surprised by the girl behind this counter. Instead of eyeing Blake like an animal, she just got to work and gave us the most pleasant smile I'd ever seen that didn't come from a catgirl. And that's because swaying just behind her was a little wolf's tail. I checked over my shoulder and gave a thumbs up to Coco, but she wasn't looking at us anymore. Her and Velvet were watching the show and Weiss charged like a beowolf into her own family's store, Ruby standing out in the hall cheering her on. Karma must be a lovely woman.


	22. Taking Strides

It was later on in the night before anything else interesting happened. I was laying on the couch playing Ruby's new fighting game with her. With Beacon absolutely decimated, Ruby lost her game console and all of her games, so Weiss replaced her collection as a reward for going shopping with us.

Like usual, I was beating the shit out of her. She put down her scroll with a 'hmph' and looked up at me with her arm crossed. "Can we change characters yet?" To be fair, Ronin is the only character I know how to play, I just play him that well. "Uhhhh…fine." I said, scrolling down to character select. I figured I could give my baby sister one game.

After a round or so, I had to ask. "So what'd Weiss tell that racist chick?" Ruby gasped and paused the game, flicking through her scroll. "I recorded it! It was AMAZING." She slid her scroll across the floor to me and I lay back on my back, starting the video.

It started with Weiss charging through the mall and Ruby barely keeping up. "WEIIIISSSSSS SLOW DOWWWWWWN!" I already had to pause it and giggle before I could restart it. She skids around the corner and into the store, holding out a finger. "Who in the world do you think you are?!" The girl froze, evidently she was in the middle of talking to her friend, and Ruby was poking her head in the door to record this.

"Uhhhhh…pardon?" Weiss slammed her fist on the desk. "Do you have any idea who I am?!" When she didn't get an immediate response, she turned to Ruby who quickly hid the scroll. "Ruby! Can you believe she doesn't know who I am?!" Ruby sounded flustered to say the least. "Oh, yeah…crazy stuff man…everyone knows you Weiss."

Once Weiss turned around the scroll was back to a recording angle, and the cashier stood with wide eyes. "Oh…M-Ms. Schnee. I had no idea tha-" Weiss held a finger over her mouth. "No. Shut up and listen. You went out and spoke on behalf of my family's company…and showed obvious racism?"

She stuttered, trying desperately to explain herself. "Ms. Schnee, I was just trying to-" Weiss cut her off once again. "To what, shame my friend just for being a Faunus? Or was it to go ahead and shame the same sex couple?! Is that what your problem is?!" I almost felt bad for a fraction of a second, but then I saw her face. Her shame wasn't even a fraction of what Blake had felt, and she didn't deserve what she'd told her. That was all I needed to disregard those feelings.

"Read my lips. You're FIRED. You will never work for my family again, and if I ever see you anywhere near a building my family owns again, there will be so many legal and physical consequences. Do you understand me?!" The girl nodded slowly, backing away. Weiss just kept walking forward. "Then get the fuck out of my store!" She turned to the couple customers that happened to be there. "You all get out! We're closed!" As soon as the store was emptied, Weiss slammed the gate down and locked it herself, taking the keys with her. That was when Ruby stopped the recording by going "This is the greatest moment of my life…"

I closed it and started laughing. "Ruby, I have to show Blake this. Can I borrow your scroll for a second?" Ruby shrugged and scooped mine up, getting back to the game. "Go for it sis. I'll be here if you need me." I got up and ran back over to me and Blake's room, hopping onto the bed where Blake was sat, reading her book.

She jumped when I landed on her legs, exhaling loudly. "Dust, Yang, you gave me a heart attack." I just chuckled and rolled up to her. "Sorry, but oh my god look at what Weiss did in the store!" I passed her Ruby's scroll and she tapped the play button, watching it carefully. She smirked a few times, but by the end of it she shook her head. "That was so wrong." She said with a chuckle.

I gasped and feigned a shocked expression. "Blake! I'll have you know that that employee was speaking ill-will on behalf of the company she represents! This is unacceptable in the workplace!" She rolled her eyes with a smile on her face, petting my hair. I giggled and nuzzled up to her, giving her a purr of my own. She smirked. "That's so racist."

I shrugged and nuzzled against her. "Nah, it's not. I have a Faunus girlfriend, so I can get away with it." We stayed like that for a few minutes until I nodded off in her lap for about an hour. I woke up to the sound of whistling, and Blake was looking at the doorway. I turned my head and saw Ruby twirling my scroll around. I'd totally forgotten that we traded. She was pressing a few buttons and whistling. "Well gee…I wonder what Yang could be hiding in this password protected folder?" She said, strolling around carelessly.

I sat up and held out my hand with her scroll in it. "Ruby…let's not do something we'll regret. Just trade me back and we're good, agreed?" Ruby clicked her tongue and started strolling down the hallway. "I bet the password is Bumblebee…" Blake looked at me and I shrugged. "Nah we're gonna be fiiiine."

I heard her scream down the hallway. "Oh! It must use 3s instead of Es!" That's when I shot off the bed and sprint down the hall. "RUBY ROSE THOSE ARE LOCKED FOR A REASON!"


	23. Fashionably Late

The next few days felt a bit…odd. The girls would go missing for hours at a time only to pop up a few hours later, pretending they'd been in the house all day. To be fair, it was a huge place so I could never tell if they were telling the truth or not. Then it all game together one morning.

Blake had gotten up before me again, so she was hogging all the hot water. That's fine, I prefer cold showers anyway, so I made my way down the stairs to grab some breakfast. Weiss was still eating when I got there, so that was something right? I'd at least made it in time to eat with her. I grabbed myself a plate full of scrambled eggs, bacon, sausage, toast, basically everything you could eat for breakfast, and then I sat myself next to her, digging in. "Morning!" I chirped, stuffing my face.

Weiss looked up from her own food and smiled, pulling out her scroll and cycling through it to a picture. "Hey, do you think Ruby will like this?" She asked, passing it to me. I poked my head around my orange juice to check it out. It was some kind of clip for her hood. "Why would she need this?" I asked, raising an eyebrow.

Weiss shrugged. "I was doing some laundry and saw that the current ones were getting a bit old…I thought it'd make a nice Christmas present, you know?" I nearly dropped my fork. I checked Weiss' scroll for the date…December 21st.

"You didn't buy anything yet, did you?" She said, almost as if she'd read my mind. Am I really that obvious? "Of COURSE I did! Come on, Weiss. And even if I hadn't, you're only just now doing it! So there!" She snorted and snatched her scroll back. "I've already bought something for you, Blake and Winter."

Well shit. "Yeah well…I might have forgotten. But that's no big deal, right?" Weiss nodded. "Oh yeah, no big deal. How's your money situation going for you?" I blushed and realized that my wallet was still completely empty. I made most of my money back at Beacon by doing missions as a Huntress. Simple ones that didn't pay a ton, but they made you money. It's not like you can get a part time job while you're training. "Well…define money."

Weiss groaned and passed me a neatly clipped stack of notes. "Once we're back in the field, you realize you basically owe me enough to pay for this entire house, right?" I sighed and prayed she wasn't actually keeping track. "Yeah…I know." And ran back upstairs with the money. I caught Blake changing into some clothes and she quickly slammed her closet door shut. Great, so she'd bought my gifts already. That's wonderful. "Hey babe." I said, flopping myself onto the bed.

Blake sat down next to me and ran a hand through my hair. "Hi Yang." She chuckled, giving me a kiss on the forehead. If I didn't know any better, I'd say that she and Weiss were going out of their way to be nice to me so that I'd feel even worse about not buying them a gift. Or that Blake happened to be showing affection. Either or. "Hey, Blake? What do you think I can get Weiss for Christmas?" She just shrugged, still running her hand through my hair.

"It's hard to say, she literally has everything in the world. I got something to clear her mind a bit." I sighed. "What the fuck does that mean?" I asked, facepalming. I literally had no idea what to work with, and I heard Blake chuckle above me. "You'll figure it out, Yang. You're thoughtful…resourceful…" I groaned, feeling even worse that I'd forgotten Christmas now. "I'll come up with something. Easy shit." I sat back up and gave Blake a hug before I went into the bathroom to shower. Cold water should get the thoughts going through my head.

I leaned against the wall and let the water hit me. I was so worried about all this that I really wasn't stopping to think. I'd just have to go out and see what the world offered me. I didn't bother with a towel as I came out soaking wet, letting my semblance evaporate the water away. That was no doubt the handiest part of the heat that came with it. Once I grabbed myself some winter clothes I made my way down the stairs.

I checked around the corner before I left so that the others would know where to find me. Unlike some people I'm just that nice. Ruby and Blake were eating and Weiss was sitting back in her chair, no doubt finishing up her shopping on her scroll. "Hey, I'm going out for a bit. If you guys need me, call me on my scroll, okay?" Ruby nodded and waved at me, and Weiss pointed outside.

"If you want, tell Johnathan I loaned his services to you for today." I nodded, despite having no idea who that was. Must be her driver from the other day. Blake realized where I must be going and gave me a slight wave as I walked out the door. I blew her a kiss, figured it'd be cute. Once I got outside, I realized why she wanted me to take her driver. I didn't have Bumblebee anymore. She got destroyed during the attack on Beacon by a giant flying dragon, and shockingly dragon Grimm attacks aren't covered by insurance. I started walking my way down to where Weiss kept her limo, kicking a few stones as I went. Ain't that just a kick in the teeth?


	24. RWBY Christmas

Blake and I woke up on Christmas morning to Ruby jumping on our bed, wearing a green pajama shirt and her hood. How festive. "IT'S CHRISTMAS! GET UP!" I groaned for half a second before yanking the blanket further up. Blake did the same. "Ruby, chill, we're awake. G-Go wait downstairs with Weiss!" I heard Weiss clear her throat from the doorway and I almost passed out from embarrassment. "Yeah, maybe come with me for a bit Ruby." She said, grabbing her by the back of her pajama bottoms and dragging her off the bed and around the corner. I couldn't help but sigh in relief as I heard Ruby's voice fading down the hallway. "Weiss why do you always have to drag me everywhere?"

I groaned and quickly tried to put on my pajama bottoms again, only to realize about halfway through that they were Blake's. After a quick bit of maneuvering we were back to our normal sleepwear and shuffling out the door. My pants were inside out but…fuck it. I make that mistake literally all the time. We plopped ourselves down on the couch next to Ruby. She was still swinging her legs back and forth like the adorable ball of energy she was. Still young enough to get this excited for Christmas too.

Weiss opened the closet where we'd each hidden our gifts to each other, and we all had three. All wrapped in the color of whoever had made it for us. Except me. I only had the one. I raised an eyebrow at both Weiss and Ruby. Usually black and purple wasn't a color you saw under your Christmas tree, especially not all by itself. Weiss shrugged. "Ruby, maybe Yang should go first? Just to make it fair since she only got two?" I blinked. Two? Was my eyesight gone now too?

Ruby smirked and ran around the corner, causing me to stand up to go with her. Weiss just held me down though. "Oh no you don't. You stay right here." And there she went after her. I turned to Blake who just shrugged, sitting by her pile of presents. I sat back in my spot on the couch and pulled out my scroll to pass the time, and I didn't look up until I heard Ruby giggling around the corner. When I turned my head Weiss and Ruby were there, but Ruby was sitting on a brand new black and yellow motorcycle. "Merry Christmas, Sis!"

I practically launched myself off the couch toward them, looking it over. It was almost identical to Bumblebee, with a few exceptions. Much more expensive and much more modern parts. Weiss gave me a cocky smile. "Never say I haven't done anything nice for you, got it Yang?" I yanked both of them into a hug and laughed as Weiss stumbled. It was so perfect.

"How did you two do this?" I asked as Ruby got off, letting me take a seat and test the handling. Weiss smiled and held up a hand. "Well, I was talking to Ruby about how we lost our stuff at Beacon when we all went shopping and she mentioned your old bike." Ruby cut her off and latched herself to my back. "So then I said that we should build you a new one since I helped with the old one!" Weiss folded her arms again, looking smug as ever. "I just did the funding, Ruby did most of the work."

I tested the key and the engine sounded loud and amazing. I revved it a few times before turning it off, not wanting to smoke everyone out of the room. "This is so amazing, thanks to both of you."

I gave them another hug and saw Blake, leaning against the closet with a smile. "Way to blow my gift out of the water." She said, sliding Weiss the rectangular gift wrapped all in black and purple. Weiss broke away from me and sat down cross legged, opening it carefully buy undoing the black ribbon first. Blake rolled her eyes. "Just tear it open, Weiss. It's a Christmas present."

Weiss looked up at her with an obvious blush on her face. "I'm getting to that!" She said, eventually tearing at the paper slowly. Inside was a white and blue book, no labels anywhere on it. When she opened the pages it was blank. Blake realized she'd have to explain. "It's…basically a diary. I thought maybe you could use someone you could say anything to. Books tend to not judge." Weiss thanked her with a quick hug and Ruby already got to work tearing at the present Blake had gotten her as well, which turned out to be a massive brown box.

I almost leaned over to ask what it was, but Ruby had already leaned against the fireplace and grabbed Crescent Rose. With the scythe out, she carefully used a giant murder tool to open the tape on a brown package. My little sister is kinda weird. When she opened it, I saw a few dozen magazines and comic books, and Ruby cautiously flipped through them before showing me the pictures toward the back. "Oh my god! Yang, look at this!"

I took the paper that was being waved in my face and checked them. Sure enough, there were a few dozen weapon designs in each of them, and I looked at Blake in surprise. She sat in a similar position to Weiss, playing with her fingers. "I figured that…well…maybe Ruby would appreciate something she actually enjoys reading. They're all weapons used by the huntsmen in some of my books."

Ruby tackled the Faunus to the ground, screaming how amazing the gift was, rolling off her with the first magazine. "I can make this one…and this one…and this one…" Blake was sliding my gift toward her, but I put a hand over it. "No, mine has to come last. It's special." She huffed and took Ruby's instead. Ruby looked up and smiled. "I might have to explain mine!"

Blake pulled out a long, purple cloak with a hood on it. She slowly placed it over her head before putting up the hood. Her ears made tiny indentations in it. "So, in me and Yang's family, the girls tend to wear cloaks like this, see?" I facepalmed. "Like my mom did it, my grandma did it, I wear one now. It's kinda like the logo, ya know? And you're clearly the girl in this relationship, so I decided I should make you one!" Blake didn't even get to move before Ruby gave her a big hug. "Welcome to the family!" I was about to point out that Blake and I weren't exactly getting married yet, but I decided against it, instead passing Weiss my present. "On that note~" I said, giving her one of my best flirty smirks. She looked at me suspiciously as she peeled the golden ribbon away. After some tearing, she blushed and shoved the book down on the floor, cover side down. I patted her on the head. "Come onnnnn, tell everyone what you got for Christmas, Snow Angel~" She slapped me across the face and everyone else laughed. Blake especially when she saw the name along the spine.

"It's…a book about how to pick up women." She groaned, sliding it back with the diary Blake had bought her. I patted her on the shoulder, chuckling. "Well you can buy anything in the world so I figured I'd give you the same advice you gave me with Blake!" She rolled her eyes and grabbed the next one. She clearly felt she deserved something else after what I'd given her, so no one complained. Ruby's present came out of its box as a scarf in white and red. She looked it over and realized it was homemade, a small imperfection on Ruby's rose insignia gave that much away.

"I uh…I thought it'd be nice." Was all she said, wiggling her thumbs together. "So I made you that while I made Blake her hood." Blake took the opportunity to drag me off to the side, looking a tiny bit cross. "You didn't actually just get Weiss that book, right?" I put up a hand to reassure her. "Babe, please. You honestly think I'd do that?" She put her hands on her hips. "Yes." Fuck, she knows me so well.

By the time we got back, Ruby was already done with Weiss' gift and they were waiting for Blake. Evidently she'd gotten a few new pins for her own hood and was replacing them quickly. They were beautifully made and bared Ruby's crosses and emblem, as well as the Schnee crest every now and again. They were cute replacement to Ruby's rusted and worn pins.

Blake grabbed Weiss's gift and ripped the packaging open, staring in shock when she looked at it. "Is this Third Crusade?" I'd heard about the rare book a few times. Particularly back in Vale. Blake was devastated when Tukson didn't have it. Only book he couldn't find, if I remembered correctly. Weiss sat up and pushed open the cover for her. Blake covered her mouth and gasped. "It's signed…"

Well, I felt like an idiot. My gift was gonna look terrible compared to that. One of the rarest books ever printed, the only one in the series Blake couldn't find, and it was signed. Pack up boys, she's leaving me for Weiss. "It's from our personal library. I couldn't exactly buy you a brand new one, so I hope this will do!" She had the air knocked out of her when Blake hugged her, purring happily. "Thank you so much Weiss! This is amazing!"

I poked my present over to Ruby. I was laying on my stomach between her and Weiss for right now. She eagerly tore it open just like every year. It was a tiny, pathetic little box, and it was wrapped pretty poorly. Ruby managed to wrestle it open and yanked out the little pieces of paper, looking at the names. "They're tickets to an Atlas weapon demo. I figure the four of us can all go, but it's more up Ruby's alley, so they're in her box." Ruby was so excited, looking between those and her weapon diagrams. Weiss nudged her on the shoulder, causing her to look up blinking. It wasn't uncommon for Ruby to forget to say thanks. She gave me a thumbs up and smiled widely. "Thanks sis!"

I got up and moved back to my spot next to Blake, grabbing the present she'd given me. "Now what on Earth could this be…" I said, picking it up. Blake marked her page and closed her book. "It's not a motorcycle, that's all I can really tell you." I felt at the packaging and realized whatever it was, it was very soft. Blake blushed when I ripped it open and pulled out a yukata. It was a lot like hers, but it was yellow and gold, bearing my burning heart emblem over the left side of the chest. "I thought it was a cute idea. If you don't like it there's a gift receipt in our room." She seemed so sure I'd hate it, but it was just so cute. She played with the skirt of the hood Ruby had made for her. "So if you don't like it, we can just return it and figure it out later…" I grabbed Blake close and kissed her on the cheek, earning a long and loud purr from her. I pointed her down toward my gift and snagged it, sliding it over to her.

She stopped it with her toe and picked it up, eagerly tearing into it. "So when you lost the GS, you lost a good bit of the ribbon you used and…I thought you might like a replacement." This was where a majority of my money had gone, considering the durability of the ribbon Blake had to use for her techniques, as well as the length of it. She unraveled a beautiful striped ribbon. It was incredibly soft, but also very durable. It had to be. The stripes alternated between black and yellow, my yellow emblem on each of the black strikes, hers in black on each of the yellow stripes. "It's not a super rare book, but I didn't even know where to look for something like that." She didn't even have to say anything though as she wrapped it around her wrists. I'd never heard Blake purr that loudly before, and that meant I'd done a damn good job. It felt good.

As everyone cleaned up their gifts, I ran the new and improved Bumblebee outside, putting her in the driveway. It was a beautiful bike, and I finally had a way to take Blake out alone. Then I remembered I'd never given Weiss her actual gift! I ran back inside to try and catch her but she was gone, and she'd left my little 'how to pick up women' book. That's just rude. I picked it up and jogged up the stairs to her room, knocking on the door. She answered it a few seconds later, pulling her pants back on. Evidently she'd been preparing for a shower.

When she saw the book she rolled her eyes, but I stopped her. "At least open it. To page 12 in particular, please and thank you." She growled and pulled it open, freezing when she pulled out a beautiful locket. The cover was a real ruby with a silver casing. The chain was bright gold and I pressed in the black locking mechanism for her. Inside was a picture of the four of us laughing in our dorm during one of our little hangouts with Team JNPR. What I didn't expect was for her to tear up as she closed it. "Yang…where on Remnant did you get this?! How much did it cost?!"

I laughed and pointed at the ruby. "That was the expensive part, the rest I made myself. I made a motorcycle and my weapon, a locket is easy for me." I almost had the wind knocked out of me when she tackled me into a hug. I stumbled back and patted her on the back. "Consider it a thank you for helping me with Blake." I said quietly, hugging her back. I saw Blake out of the corner of my eye, rubbing the new ribbon covering her wrists, smiling at me. She really does know me so well.

((Ladies and gentlemen, I give you the longest chapter in the Rehab fanfic! Special thanks to all the guys on Reddit who helped me come up with gift ideas! You guys are the best!))


	25. Coffee in the Morning

My mornings were standard routine these days. Crawl out of bed, undress if I haven't already, get a freezing cold shower. Blake wanted the hot water anyway, so I'd leave it for her. I strolled down to the kitchens a bit earlier today, shirt on backward, and jammed a cup into the coffee maker. That would hit the spot real nice. Weiss was leaned against a counter, arms crossed. "Hey, Yang? I have a question?"

"Sup Special Snowflake?" I asked, pressing random buttons on the coffee maker in desperate hopes that magical liquid would fall out of it. That or coffee. I'd accept that as well. I heard Weiss clear her throat. "I…I actually don't hate that one." She said, referencing her nick name. So I pulled out my scroll and texted Blake. "Alright, well I'd better make a note not to use that one then. Go ahead Ice Queen."

I could literally feel the rage filled stare burrowing into the back of my head and I smirked, turning around with my cup of black coffee. "So what do you need?" She cleared her throat again and I thought I saw a book behind her. "So…you've been Ruby's older sister her whole life, right? Never separated?" I nodded, and she continued. "Well…I'm just wondering; my cousin was interested in her. Should I tell him she might be interested or…is she maybe taking after you or…?" I nearly choked on my coffee. She was asking me about Ruby's sexuality?

"Weiss, first of all, I'm straight. Let's get that out there first, okay?" Weiss snorted and pressed a button on her scroll, playing back an audio recording of a…rather steamy late night Yang and Blake. I blushed. "OK, maybe Bisexual. Maybe. And that's only if just Blake counts." Weiss crossed her arms. Evidently just Blake counts. Bisexual it is! "But if I'm going to be honest with you, the only thing Ruby has ever gotten even remotely close to having sex with is probably her scythe. Not gonna lie."

I took another sip of coffee and she grunted. "So I should go ahead and tell him that she wouldn't be interested in a guy?" I shrugged. "I wouldn't say that. Just that the odds are kinda 50/50 when it comes to genders as far as I can tell. She's told me that Pyrrha's pretty, she's told me that Sun is hot, I've heard a few things from her." Now that I think about it, maybe she really does take after big sis. Bisexuality ahoy.

Weiss nodded thoughtfully. "And if he wanted to increase his chances…" I rolled my eyes. "Ruby is already fanatical about you and wants to be your best friend, just ask her out. Jesus, Weiss, it's not rocket science." She turned bright red and started to say something about this fake cousin of hers, so I snagged the book from behind her. Being in better shape and with a robot arm meant I had better reflexes than her when she didn't have her glyphs to bail her out. "How to Attract Women. Maybe I am a good judge of presents, eh Weiss?"

She quickly snatched it back and dusted off the cover. It was clearly being used quite a bit. "Well…you had to come to me about Blake. So I don't think I'm weird…right?" I just smiled and drank some coffee. "I mean…that's up to you, Snowflake. I came to you because I wasn't sure what I was or what was going on. Why do you need my help with Ruby?"

She groaned and took a seat at the kitchen table. Funny, I'd never even sat at this one. I tested one of the seats and wiggled myself around. Solid chairs, likely they've never been used. I'd be willing to sit in these again. "Well, to put it bluntly, my father is very…closed minded about the world." I nodded, whistling. "So he's like, burn the gays and the Faunus. Cover the gay Faunus is gasoline, right?" She groaned.

"That's a rather…barbaric way of putting it. But it's not entirely incorrect." I leaned back in my chair and wiped my eyes. I still wasn't totally awake to process what was happening, but I could at least make coherent conversation. That's a good sign. "OK, well, what are the odds he actually finds out about this?"

Weiss shrugged and toyed with the table cloth. "That's just it, I don't know. Let's say, by some miracle, you and Blake stay together forever. There's nothing bad to come out of it, you know?" I nearly coughed up coffee again. "I dunno about it being a miracle, but go on."

"What happens if Ruby and I happened to? And tried to get married or something? Or if it were any other girl?" I clicked my tongue and stood up. "Well, if that's what you're worried about, either tell him to deal with it when you're ready or start looking up hermaphrodites on the internet." She blushed profusely when I told her that and punched me in the arm. "Yang this isn't funny! I'm being serious."

I stopped leaving the room and turned to look at her again. "Honestly? So am I. Weiss, you can't live your entire life in fear because of what Daddy says to you. Ruby has your back, Blake has your back, Winter has your back, and I have your back. You just have to watch the front and figure out where you're going. Got it?" She slowly nodded and I started walking around the corner to head up the stairs. "Good stuff. If you wanna talk more, text me. Ruby's probably gonna be awake soon anyway."

I realized halfway up the stairs what I'd actually just spent the last half hour doing. I'd been giving the rich bitchy girl on our team advice on trying to pick up my baby sister. Because you know, that's not even remotely awkward at all.


	26. Just Like Old Times

I spent that night barely sleeping, tossing and turning. Every time I closed my eyes for even a second it happened. I was in Ruby's room, playing games with her. We were having a great time like usual when I heard it. That explosion downstairs. Nothing subtle about it, it just went boom, and I heard screaming. Ruby and I sprinted out of her room and down the stairs, grabbing our weapons as we went. I was horrified by what we saw.

Thrown against the wall was Bumblebee, pinning Weiss's leg underneath it. She was kicking at the bike with her other leg, trying to get it off her with her glyphs. It was no good though, she just couldn't concentrate. Ruby and I ran over to help her, prying the bike off of what was clearly a broken leg. "How did this happen? Are you okay Weiss? Is every-" I looked up and got my answer. Standing in the hole in the wall of the estate was Adam Taurus. "You thought you could take her away from me?" He growled.

Ruby realized he was the culprit and jumped at him, transforming Crescent Rose into it's scythe form. I screamed at Ruby to back up, but Adam dodged the slice, grabbing her by the throat. She choked and tried to scream when he kicked the scythe out of her grasp, pinning her against the wall. "Where is Blake?" Ruby hit at his arm, just trying to breathe. I was terrified to move, just trying desperately to talk him down. Ruby was my baby sister; I couldn't just run at him when he had her like that. "Adam just…think about what you're doing here…" He grunted and I heard a sickening snap before Ruby fell motionless to the floor.

I felt my eyes begin to water and burn up as they changed color. I charged in screaming profanities and insults at him, taking swing after swing. They just went straight through him and I couldn't understand why for the life of me. He walked over to Weiss, stomping on her already broken leg. She screamed in pain and he reached out, yanking the locket from out of her shirt and ripping the chain off her neck. He clicked it open and pointed to Blake. "Where is she?" Weiss shook her head, using her glyphs to bounce Myrtenaster to her and get Adam off her. "I won't betray my friends."

She stood up shakily, using her weapon as a cane. She couldn't even stand under her own power and she was going to try and fight. I tried screaming at her to just get out of there as fast as she could. She summoned a giant knight, standing guard over his mistress loyally. "I have a bit too much honor to me to allow that." I was doing whatever I could to try and grab a hold of Adam but I just couldn't do anything. I just slipped right through him.

Adam moved to attack and the knight batted him aside like nothing, straight out the next wall of the estate. Weiss hobbled her way to Ruby, desperately trying to do anything she could. "Come on Ruby…you can't leave me." She whispered, trying to bring her back. There was nothing she could do. I saw a few tears fall and she stood back up with Myrtenaster. She cracked her leg back into place and I saw her walk again. Barely, but she was doing it.

Adam recovered from the rubble. "You fucking Schnee girls…you always get in the way." Weiss wiped her eyes and her time dilation glyph began to channel. "Sisters think alike." She spat, creating glyphs all around him. Now he was on her turf. He was on the beacon ball court. "But Winter wasn't willing to kill you. I am." With that she shot off. Faster than I'd ever seen Weiss move, faster than I thought she even could. "I'm going to rip you apart; limb from limb!" She screamed over her tears, slashing and stabbing at him from every angle, freezing him to the ground, doing everything she had up her sleeve. Adam kept getting back up. His sword began to glow and I screamed for Weiss to run. There was nothing anyone could do now.

I saw a flash of crimson and that was it. I couldn't watch anymore. I ran. I had to find Blake. Now. I had to protect her however I could. There had to be something I could do. When I found her upstairs, Adam had beaten me to her. He had a foot over her head. She hissed and kicked at his back leg, but he didn't seem to notice. Stubborn as a bull. "Where is Yang Xiao Long?" I stopped for half a second. He was looking for me? He turned his head over his shoulder and I froze. He was staring directly at me through that mask…and he smiled. "You're going to tell me, Blake."

I looked down and saw my hands as a faded outline. I couldn't do anything now; I couldn't even move. She screamed as he increased the pressure on his foot. I screamed and begged for him to stop. Not Blake, I couldn't lose her too. Then he leaned down and put a hand over her throat, changing position. "Just like old times then?"

I sat up screaming at the top of my lungs. Blake rolled out of bed beside me and climbed up in a panic. "Wha-What's going on?!" She cried out. When she saw me shaking she climbed up next to me, just trying to calm me down. Our door slammed open and Weiss was there with Myrtenaster. Ruby had armed herself with a slipper. How menacing, sis. That'll surely scare the White Fang away.

"What on Remnant are you screaming about Yang? It's three in the morning!" I was shaking, clutching my sides and trying to stand. Blake held me back as best she could. "Yang, wait, just calm down and tell us what happened." I pushed her aside and ran into the bathroom, coughing up my dinner from the night before. Ruby looked around at our teammates. "I for one…am kind of glad she ran over there for that."


	27. No More Secrets

I stumbled back out from the bathroom, barely conscious. I couldn't bear to look at any of my teammates right now and stumbled onto the bed. Blake pushed at my arm, trying to get me back to a sitting position. "Yang what happened?" I just shook my head, not wanting to meet her gaze.

She grabbed my shoulders and pulled me up to look her in the eye. Unfortunately, my gaze fell down to where her yukata happened to part, reminding me of my nightmares. I groaned and pushed myself off her, walking to the sliding glass door to the balcony. "It was just a nightmare. Don't worry about it."

Weiss rolled her eyes and walked up, leaning Myrtenaster on the nearby wall. "Anyone can tell that this isn't just an isolated nightmare Yang. You've been a wreck every morning for the past month. Something is very wrong and we're going to have to fix this. Just tell them what's going on with your-" I turned around, my eyes were red as I got defensive. I didn't want her to tell them, even if she did know. "No, I need to fix it. You don't have to do anything, so just butt out!"

Ruby crossed her arms in the doorway. "We absolutely have to do something Yang. We need to take care of each other. So just tell us what's wrong!" I growled and clenched my fists. "Let it go, Ruby!" Weiss got in my face immediately though, and she wasn't about to back down. "Don't yell at her for trying to help you!" I growled and stepped back an inch. I didn't want to do anything I'd regret later.

When I opened my mouth to speak again, Blake spoke up. "Yang, either tell us what's wrong or drop out of Beacon." I stopped and looked at her. What did she say? "I mean; it only makes sense. How are you supposed to be a huntress when you can't even sleep?" I tried to argue with her, but I couldn't come up with anything to say. She made an excellent point. I sighed, clearly defeated.

I looked at Blake, willpower lost from my eyes. "Just…don't be upset, okay?" She blinked and nodded. "I'm…having nightmares. About Adam." She froze and the color drained from her face. Ruby scratched her head. "Can uh…can someone fill me in? Please? Who is Adam?" I realized nobody had explained Blake's past fully to Ruby yet, and luckily Weiss spoke up. "He's Blake's old friend. From the White Fang. He's the one who cut off Yang's arm and stabbed Blake."

I winced slightly as a tingle shot up my missing arm. I shuddered and sat myself back down, just in case. Blake grabbed my hand in breathed slowly. "Yang, we can beat this, okay? You promised me that we would finish this together, and now we really will. Okay?" I stared at her in shock. I didn't understand how she could be so calm about this.

Weiss sighed and grabbed her blade off the wall, rubbing her eyes. "Yang, Blake, are you guys okay to talk about this?" She looked incredibly tired, so I nodded. She stepped out the door and around the corner. Ruby waited, just to make sure. "Yang…I have nightmares a lot too. So…if you wanna talk, I'm here. Okay?" She stood there for a few moments before I slowly nodded. She walked over and hugged me before heading back to bed.

Blake folded her arms and sighed. I sat next to her in shame. "I'm sorry Blake. I shouldn't be so afraid of him…" She looked up at me with anger in her eyes. "Yang, don't be an idiot. I'd be upset if you WEREN'T afraid of him! He's taken so much from both of us, it's only natural." I sat there dumbfounded as she spoke. "If you weren't afraid it'd be more concerning!"

I sighed and she pulled me into a hug. "Just please, tell me what bothers you from now on? This is between the two of us. No more secrets." I cried softly into her shoulder, nodding. "No more secrets."


	28. Never Scatter

Blake woke me up the next morning, standing over me with a soft smile. "Good morning sleepy head." She chuckled, waiting for me to sit up. I did so with a groan of protest, rubbing my eyes. I hadn't slept well after our talk, but when I checked the clock it was already almost noon. It was definitely time to be up, so that sucks. "C'mon. We need to go see Pyrrha today."

I blinked and rolled out of bed, stripping down to take my shower. "Why, what does Pyrrha need?" I asked, grabbing a towel, but Blake wouldn't mind if I didn't put it on, right? "Well…" She said, blushing a bit. Evidently she still got flustered. It was pretty cute. "She's still back in the hospital I hear, so I imagine she'd appreciate a visit." I couldn't help but wonder how severe her injuries were. She'd been in there for months now, what could have happened to her? "Okay, sure. Just lemme grab a shower and then I'll be right out, okay?" I turned and walked into the bathroom, turning on ice cold water as usual.

When I came downstairs, Ruby was sitting with Weiss, toying with her fingers. "Weiss, maybe I should stay home? I have some stuff I need to take care of…" I put a hand on her shoulder and she jumped about a foot in the air. That's weird. "Sis, it's just team JNPR. You don't think they'd wanna see you?" She blushed and shook her head, drawing a sigh from me. "Well they're gonna see you anyway then." I sat down and started eating breakfast, looking between Weiss and Ruby. "So no one's gonna talk?" That was met with silence, so I suppose I should take that as a no.

Blake stepped in from the kitchen with a cup of coffee for me, which instantly reminded me how much I needed her around. I took a few sips and sat with the group in silence. Blake had her book, Weiss was writing, and Ruby refused to look at anyone. Something was very wrong with her…and it likely had something to do with her refusal to meet with team JNPR. I sighed and pulled my scroll out until we were ready to leave.

The entire ride over I tried to get a hold of Nora. Usually she was always happy to answer me, but I didn't get anything back until we pulled up.

"Hey, Nora, we're here. What room are you guys in?"

"912. See you in a second."

I lead the others to the elevator and stood with Blake in the elevator, Weiss constantly making sure that Ruby stayed with us. I kept an eye on her during the elevator ride, she just looked so incredibly uncomfortable and I wasn't sure why. Once the elevator opened, Weiss grabbed her by the hand and I grabbed Blake's as we followed them down the hallway to Pyrrha's room. Nora and Ren were both outside, both dressed significantly more causal than we were used to. Ren turned around in a black hoodie and green shirt with some jeans. Nora wore something similar but with a pink shirt and white hoodie instead. Ren gave us a small smile. "Hey guys."

His tone didn't seem very happy, then again Ren rarely sounded happy. What was odd was Nora. She wasn't the first one talking, she wasn't jumping around, she was silent. For once in her life she was speechless, and that didn't bode well. "Hey Ren, how's Pyrrha doing?" I asked cautiously. He gave me a shrug. "Jaune gets it better than I do, it…might be better to talk to him. He said, nodding to the door.

Blake was the first one to step forward, pushing open the door slowly. I tried to look over her shoulder, but I couldn't thanks to the angle between the door and hospital bed. "Jaune? Is it cool if we come in?" I heard Jaune on the other side, giving a slight cough. His voice didn't sound steady. "Yeah…oh, yeah. Come on in guys." I was the last one in, and my eyes widened at the sight of the bed. Pyrrha was encased in stone, looking like a statue. When she'd been frozen, she was on her knees, an arrow in her heel. "What happened?" I asked under my breath, running a hand over her arm. Cold as ice, and Ruby was trying not to cry.

When I looked over at Jaune, he looked exhausted. Truly exhausted. His eyes were red and swollen with bags under them. He'd been crying instead of sleeping, clearly. Blake sat down, looking between Pyrrha and Jaune. "I…don't understand what's happened." She said softly, and the feeling was mutual. Ruby broke down, sobbing quietly. I hadn't known she was so close to Pyrrha. Jaune, sure, but Pyrrha? "I'm so sorry Jaune…I didn't mean to do this." Wait, what?

Jaune didn't move from his seat, head in his hands. Weiss and Blake turned to look at Ruby in confusion. Evidently she'd been keeping things from us, she hadn't told us a few things about the battle of Beacon. The parts that only she'd been able to see. Jaune shook his head. "Ruby, this isn't your fault." Ruby whimpered softly and Weiss put an arm around her carefully. "Ruby…I asked you to help her and you did. There's nothing wrong with what you've done."

Ruby shrugged Weiss away. "Jaune, how can you even say that? Look at her, I turned our friend into a statue. I didn't even know I could do that, and I did it to her of all people." She wiped her nose and eyes, trying to slow her crying. Jaune finally took his gaze off Pyrrha's bed, reaching over to a nearby table. He held up a stone arrow, identical to the one in Pyrrha's leg. "Ruby, this was attacked to her body. You did this to her about a second before this arrow killed her. What you did was give her…was give us a fighting chance."

I took the arrow carefully from Jaune, looking it over carefully. It was a strange design, almost as if it had just reformed. I turned it over and checked the tip. It was broken off of something, but I couldn't tell what for now. Jaune took it back from me, smiling in apology. "So wait, Ruby can turn things to stone now?" I asked, looking at my little sister. She nodded slowly. "Y-Yeah…I guess. Uncle Qrow told me that I got it from Mom…" She said quietly. I leaned back against the wall. So she got it from Summer…like some kind of hereditary semblance then?

Nora and Ren made their way into the room, but when they saw Ruby crying they almost seemed to question what they should do. Jaune gestured for them to join us and they stepped into the seating area Jaune and I were in. Ren sat next to Jaune and put a hand on his shoulder. "Buddy, maybe it's time to get some rest. Just for a bit?"

Their leader just shook his head, clutching his hand around Pyrrha's. "No, I'm fine. I just…need to make sure I'm here until this wears off." He said, wiping his own eyes. I sighed as Nora pulled me out the door. "I really don't know what to do about him, Yang. We don't know for a fact that Pyrrha's ever going to wake up and…" She trailed off, punching one of the reception counters and leaving a nice indent in it. "He's not sleeping, Ren and I have to practically force feed him, it's just not working."

I remembered how I was for a while with my arm and sighed. "I know the feeling." I said, giving her a small hug. She gripped my jacket and started crying softly. I'd never seen Nora so upset and it was such a jarring transition. She was worried, Ren was worried, and Jaune wouldn't move. It was just a terrible situation and Nora needed to be comforted. So I'd be there as long as I could.

I made a mental note to ask Ruby about this secret semblance of hers, but that'd have to wait until later. When she wasn't a nervous wreck. I looked at the nightstand for the first time and saw the wilted flowers from that day in the elevator, the note was leaning on the vase. Nora saw my gaze and explained. "Ren's idea. Just in case he's not awake when she wakes up."


	29. Back in the Fight

It took a while to talk Ruby into it, but Team RWBY was finally motivated again. Blake and I were working our asses off to get back into fighting shape after being on the shelf for so long, and it was coming together nicely. I was working on one of the bags while Blake was slashing down targets. As far as I could tell, the wound in her gut wasn't bothering her nearly as much these days, whereas I was still getting the hang of daily tasks with my arm. Every now and again it would just spasm and break a glass I was holding or something of the like, but in an actual combat scenario that would mean nothing. I was beyond ready to get back in the field.

I decided to take a break after knocking the third bag off the chain. Most people would say that's a bad sign, but if what you're punching is Grimm, it's pretty dang good. I walked off to the side to check on Ruby, and she looked like a million bucks. She was just as fast as before and about twice as motivated right now. That was something we'd need to take back Vale. I leaned against the doorframe to watch for a moment when I saw movement out of the corner of my eye. It took me a moment to pinpoint exactly where she was ducking out, but there was Weiss, ducking behind a bag. Apparently she was also spending her breaks watching Ruby. That's just beyond cute and I couldn't help but wonder if Ruby realized she had a secret admirer.

I gave Weiss a little wave and walked to the bench to fish out some water from the cooler. Blake was sat on the bench just like the day I'd realized how I felt about her. Probably the same book too. I tilted my head to check which book it was and…. nope, Third Crusade. Damn. I sat myself next to her and put an arm around her. "Good book?"

She nodded, not willing to stop her reading for more than a moment as she flipped the page. I clicked my tongue awkwardly. "So how is this working again? Rotating in and out of Vale, right?" Blake nodded quickly. "Every month we rotate. So Team CRDL, Team SSSN, Team FNKI, Team ABRN, Team CFVY, Team BRNZ, Team RWBY, and once they're capable again, Team JNPR will rejoin the rotation." OK, so that explained a lot. Weiss had tried to explain it to me beforehand, but of course she started that bit with Team CRDL so…I kinda stopped listening. Like, instantly.


	30. Landing Strategies

It was finally time to make our way to Vale. It was finally time to take back my kingdom and my home, and team RWBY was going to do what the others could only dream of. Except, you know, the helicarrier would actually have to move for us to do that. That would be pretty useful. I looked over my shoulder to the pilot and gave him an annoyed look, but he just put his hands up. "Don't look at me, we're waiting on your teammates."

I looked around the vehicle to my team. Ruby, Weiss, Blake…they were all here. And Port was going to meet us there and supervise. "What do you mean? We're all here." The pilot just shook his head. "No, we're waiting for three more. Way to count, blondie." I gave him an annoyed look. What three? There are only four members of Team RWBY so unless I'm going insane, we already had everyone.

The pilot grunted and flipped a few switches, bringing it to life. "Hold that carrier!" I blinked and poked my head out the door. Sure enough, Jaune was sprinting toward us with Ren and Nora in tow. I was honestly surprised to see them as they hopped in and Nora fistbumped me. "Sorry we're late…we uh…yeah. Had stuff to do." They all put their backpacks down in the cargo and took their seats. Jaune and Ren collapsed onto the empty bench. Nora sat herself down next to me and Blake.

Ruby looked between the three of them. "So…you're coming with us to Vale?" Ren nodded with a smile. "…Why? I mean, not that I'm ungrateful or anything. I'm glad to have you guys but like…why?" I wasn't going to say anything about it, but I did have to question it. Pyrrha was still on the ropes, so I wasn't sure just why they'd been cleared, or why they even wanted to come.

Jaune shrugged. "Well…Pyrrha is someone who believes in having a duty to her people. She'd be here." He made a good point. Being out and upholding the duties of a huntress is above all the most important thing to Pyrrha. If the others kept themselves around Atlas moping until she recovered, she'd be pretty upset if you ask me. "Other than that, the teachers don't want us going as a group of three, so we're joining you guys until Pyrrha's back on her feet."

The ride to Vale was incredibly smooth. I'd never ridden in Atlas tech before, and it was incredibly relaxing. Jaune even managed not to get airsick throughout the whole ordeal. Other than that, it was just like old times. Nora and I would take turns doing almost all the talking and making everyone laugh, Ruby would try and desperately fail at making a joke but Blake and Jaune would laugh anyway to make her feel better. When we finally made it a few hours later, we were way higher than we'd ever been. We had to be, otherwise the Nevermore and Griffons would probably try to take us out. "You guys have landing strategies, right?" The pilot called back, and I immediately watched the color drain from Jaune's face as the rest of us nodded.

Nora and Ren dove out the door, closely followed by Weiss, using her glyphs to make her way down. I looked over my shoulder to Jaune and Ruby. Ruby activated her scythe and passed Jaune her hood. "If you want, you can hang on to this." She said with a smile. She usually protected her hood with her aura, so Jaune's entire weight wouldn't be enough to do a thing to that hood. He nodded awkwardly and wrapped his hands around the red fabric before Ruby leapt out the door, propelling herself with Crescent Rose. Jaune's screams were audible all the way down and were so incredibly loud that Blake and I couldn't help but stop to laugh.

I gestured to her that I'd follow and she stepped casually out the door, dropping through the air and ready to use her Stinger's ribbon to get to safety. What a showoff. I was much more modest with my landing strategy and I hopped up onto the opened door, using it as a spring board to launch myself toward the ground. I saluted Blake as I passed her and rocketed toward the trees below me. A few shotgun blasts here or there and I managed to redirect myself right into one of the nearby trees, crashing straight through it and rolling through the landing. "Nailed it." Granted I knocked a tree over entirely, but no one likes trees. They're annoying.

I looking around the forest to find the others. Ruby had used her scythe to swing on a branch and Jaune managed to fling himself into the nearest tree when she did so. Blake landed just a moment behind me, swinging on her ribbon to land, and Nora, Ren and Weiss were all walking back toward us. I folded my arms and looked up the tree at Jaune. "So who wants to get him down?" I asked, and no one spoke up. I figured as much.

"Ahem! I can help myself out of a stupid tree, thank you very much!" I raised by eyebrow and watched him meander his way down the tree with a chuckle. He was trying to be quick, but the entire ordeal was taking way longer than it should. "Weiss?" I asked, and she sighed before making a glyph to help him bridge a gap. He stepped on it in just the wrong place and managed to plummet to the ground. "Why is it always me?" He groaned as I helped him up. I just laughed at him, I couldn't help it.

"Alright, the camp Professor Port set up is over by Patch, so Yang and I can lead the way." Ruby had climbed back into the tree she'd used to land, looking over the landscape to get an idea of where they were. "Dad and Uncle Qrow are probably going to be there too." She said, and I was kind of surprised to hear about Dad fighting. I'm not going to lie, he's great at it. Every single trick I know comes from him, but at the same time, he just doesn't do it much anymore. Time would just have to tell whether or not his skill had held up.

As we started to make our way through the forest, Blake turned around, her ears twitching slightly. "Babe? Something wrong?" I asked, causing everyone else to stop and look. She shook her head. "We have Grimm incoming." She said, yanking Stinger out of its sheath. I activated my gauntlets just in time to see the pack of beowolves charging us. "This is going to be Mount Glenn part two, isn't it?" Weiss was the one who answered me as she stepped forward with Myrtenaster. "Oh don't worry Yang. I'm sure it'll be much worse."


	31. Welcome Home

So it turned out there was a lot more than just a pack of Beowolves. If that were it, even Jaune would be able to handle it. We ended up finding ourselves swarmed by Boarbatusks, Ursa, even a King Taijitu. We were all used to handling Grimm, but not in this volume. Not all at once. We quickly found ourselves overwhelmed, each of us back to back with each other. "So…any plans Ruby? Jaune?"

They both looked at me and Ruby shrugged. "I dunno…I guess we need to try and carve ourselves a path?" She pointed to where the Grimm were the least dense, and Jaune nodded. "Ruby's right. If Nora can beat the Taijitu away, then we can use Weiss's dust to cover our escape." We all nodded and were about started to make a break for it. Nora went in first, aiming a hammer shot to the jaw of the Taijitu, but it was a snake. It simply unhinged before cracking it back into place and smacking Nora with its tail. I groaned. "I'll distract it." I told the others, jumping into its unhinged mouth and holding it open with my right arm. This was a lot easier than it had been with the Nevermore, if I'm going to be honest.

I started firing shot after shot of my Ember Celica down its throat, trying to do as much damage and attract as many Grimm as possible. When I turned around for a moment to check on the others, I saw the Taijitu was getting some help from the other Grimm. One of the alphas was trying to snatch me out of its mouth with its jaws, so I turned and launched a kick into its snout. Without my other leg to keep the Taijitu's mouth shut, the jaws chomped shut around me. I felt it try to swallow and I forced my robotic arm to close its fist around one of its fangs. "I am not going to be some snake's breakfast today!" The only light inside the creature came from my hair as my semblance roared itself to life. I screamed and kicked, punching more rounds into the roof of the white head's mouth, but it just wasn't opening.

I heard Ruby struggling with her scythe against the neck, trying to cut it down and screaming for the others to help. "Ruby be careful! You might accidentally cut Yang!" I heard Ren trying to reason with her, and I heard Crescent Rose crash against the snake's scales just above my torso. I suppose I should be glad that their resilience was greater than Ruby's swipes.

It was around that point that I heard the black head screech in pain, and I saw a blade pierce through the roof of the monster's mouth. I blinked in surprise as I heard the sound of muscle tissue breaking. The snake Grimm hissed in pain and I took the opportunity to force myself out, landing in the clearing and preparing to fight. Standing on the head of the Taijitu was a very familiar blonde who would give anything to protect Ruby and I. "I suggest you make a meal out of someone else's daughter." He spat, ripping the bone extrusions straight out of the snake's skull. With his weapon withdrawn, you could clearly see his own gauntlets, the ones I'd modeled mine after. Huge spiked blades came down over his fists as he pummeled the monster. The second head came down on him and he quickly transformed his weapons. The blade retracted, splitting into three separate blades before coming back out to catch the fangs properly.

I was about to go and help him, but he stomped on the bottom half of the jaw before jamming his blades into the roof of its mouth. "Oh just shut UP!" Then there was an explosion, and the white head collapsed to the ground, dead. The black head turned back on him, bleeding profusely. That's when I jumped back in. I was on its head, throwing punches into the wounds my father had already created on it. "You tried to fucking EAT me!" I roared, firing shotguns into its flesh until the life slowly drained from it.

At the end of it all, team RWBY and JNPR had managed to handle the weaker Grimm in the area, and the more intelligent ones had the bright idea to make a break for it. Not that I could blame them. With the fight finally over, Dad ripped his blades from the snake's corpse and sighed. His gauntlet was still smoking from the dust explosion he had triggered. He pulled me back into a hug and panted. "Yang? Please stop jumping into the mouths of giant monsters?" I laughed and hugged him back. My dad is tall as hell, so I only really came up to his chest in height.

"I make no promises, but I'll give it a shot." He sighed and chuckled, patting me on the back. "Yeah, I guess that sounds like you." We broke apart but he kept a hand on my shoulder until Ruby sprinted into him. "Daddy!" She squealed, tackling him. Dad stood there like a brick wall as she attached herself to his torso. He chuckled and hugged her back. "Hey Ruby!" He lowered her to the ground and hugged her close, giving her a kiss on the head. He looked up at the rest of our team and smirked. "So these are the teammates you two have told me about?" He asked me, eyebrow raised. I nodded and he looked at Jaune in particular. "Ya know kid, they made you sound a lot more pathetic than you actually are in battle."

Jaune sighed and for the first time I noticed the amount of Grimm blood that was evaporating off his sword, returning to dust just like the corpses were. "Gee, thanks." He grunted, sheathing it. The entire group started following Dad as he walked and talked to them. He briefly mentioned the assignment, but didn't dwell on it for very long. To be fair, we're just here to kill Grimm and do our best to retake Vale. It could be years before we were done here.

He lead us through some of the more densely populated parts of the woods, mainly because he wasn't looking to start a fight with an entire swarm, and back to Patch. The defenses were a lot more intense than I was used to from my childhood, but the village looked pretty much the same. The same pub, the same inn, the same village. And our cabin was still up on the cliff.

He gestured to the small village. "Girls, you know the place. Maybe show your friends around, I have to meet with Qrow…" He rustled Ruby's hair and gave me a fist pump. "Be careful. I love you both." He said before making his way up the hill. He walked backward for a moment and held up a finger for us to wait a moment. "Oh! Welcome home kids!"

((Apologies for the nature of this chapter, I had a lot of stuff to do in it and I'm not a good enough writer to do it, to be frank. So interactions with Blake, Weiss, Ren and Nora were cut down to...well, barely anything. Apologies, I'm not amazing with huge groups and writing for all of them at once. I will endeavor to improve at it for next time!))


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